Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell faces second motion of no confidence

Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell will face a second attempt to oust her on Thursday.

In October last year, Campbell was removed from office and later reinstated by the South Gauteng High Court. 

At least 100 councillors voted for the ANC-sponsored motion, while 93 voted against, with the EFF abstaining.

The EFF was said to have asked the ANC to allow it to govern the metro in exchange for its support in Johannesburg and Tshwane.

The deal between the EFF and ANC fell apart at the 11th hour three months ago after ANC regional chair Mzwandile Masina refused to endorse the agreement, which had the blessing of the provincial executive committee.

At the time, the EFF fielded one of Julius Malema's close allies, Nkululeko Dunga, as mayoral candidate for Ekurhuleni, having agreed with the ANC at provincial level.

But just minutes before voting, Dunga withdrew when it emerged the ANC in the region wanted their own Jongizizwe Dlabathi to contest for the mayoral chain.

Failed negotiations between the ANC and EFF resulted in the red berets, in retaliation, voting the DA’s Campbell back into office as mayor.

Since then, the ANC and EFF have found common ground, with a calculated takeover of Gauteng metros having ensued over the past couple of months, with the help of the Patriotic Alliance.

Their new coalition configuration is designed to place minority parties at the helm of positions such as speaker of council and executive mayor, wherein the ANC/EFF/PA/minority block shares the rest of the mayoral committee seats.

This strategy was successful in Joburg, with speaker Colleen Makhubele coming from COPE and Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad coming from Al Jama-ah.

The Tshwane battle was half won as speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana was successfully elected last week. The voting block however fell short by seven votes on Tuesday after attempting to install COPE's Ofentse Moalusi as mayor, who was defeated by the DA's Cilliers Brink. 

Ekurhuleni was poised as the next metro the voting block set its sights on.

As things stand, the first round of the battle was won in Ekurhuleni when former DA speaker Raymond Dhlamini was booted out a month ago after a motion of no confidence against him succeeded.

Dhlamini challenged the first removal in the high court in Johannesburg, where the court agreed with his legal arguments that his ousting was unlawful. The former speaker was reinstated days later.

However, the second attempt at his removal was successful and Dhlamini said he would not challenge the removal as it was “democracy in action”.

EFF councillor Nthabiseng Tshivhenga was elected as acting speaker of the metro in a council vote at the end of February.

The motion of no confidence against Campbell is scheduled to be heard in the council meeting on Thursday.

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