The DA is this week expected to call for fresh elections in Johannesburg and the dissolution of the city council.
TimesLIVE has learnt that the party will on Thursday forego its motion of no confidence against the mayor, Kabelo Gwamanda, postponing it to November.
Instead the DA is expected to put forward a motion calling for fresh elections to be held across Johannesburg.
This could be the party's attempt to test whether the multiparty charter coalition could succeed in snatching Gauteng away from the ANC in next year's general elections.
According to a DA Gauteng chairperson Fred Nel, the DA will propose the council be dissolved to make way for elections to be held within 90 days.
Nel says the DA believes residents of Johannesburg must get a chance to stabilise the chaotic council that has had four mayors in 21 months.
“Should our motion succeed, by-elections will be held across Joburg within 90 days, giving voters another chance to elect a new, more stable city council that can begin to rescue our country’s biggest city,” said Nel.
The city has been marred by political instability since the 2021 local government elections where smaller parties, some with a single seat, were given power to determine the direction of the council, becoming kingmakers in the election and removal of mayors and voting on budgets.
The DA believes the only solution is to hold new elections in Johannesburg.
“The DA brings this motion in the interest of all residents of Joburg, who are tired of the political instability that has brought service delivery to its knees. This instability can only be fixed by allowing voters the opportunity for a fresh mandate,” said Nel.
“The root cause of Joburg’s instability is the excessive political fragmentation that followed the November 2021 local government elections. This fragmentation led to no fewer than 18 parties gaining representation in council — with eight of those parties holding the balance of power despite only gaining a single seat each.”
The DA said it was time to end what it called a “painful charade” and that the no-confidence motion in Gwamanda would not solve the root cause of the city’s instability but only add to the already existing negative impact on service delivery.
“The DA cannot play a role in aggravating this instability. We will not participate in a government unless it is both stable and ethical. Neither will we do anything that puts the Patriotic Alliance into power, as this party is mired in allegations of corruption, cadre deployment and once again voted for the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay just last week,” said Nel.
“The DA is in the business of providing an alternative to the ANC, while the PA is an alternative version of the ANC.”
A DA leader confirmed to the Sunday Times that fresh elections in Johannesburg were “in line with our plans there”.
According to Nel, the party has already reached out to its former coalition partners in Johannesburg “inviting them to help us put politics aside by passing this motion”.
The party says the current composition in Johannesburg cannot produce a stable government.
“The only way out of this impasse is to go back to the voters to ask them to reconsider their mandate to avoid repeating the chaos of the past two years since the 2021 elections,” he said.
“Going back to the voters of Joburg for a refreshed mandate in the current circumstances, should be seen as part of SA’s ongoing maturation as a coalition country.”
Should the council reject the proposal for fresh elections, the DA says it will, going forward, abstain from voting on any no-confidence motions and will instead write to the provincial and national government calling for the dissolution of the council.
“Continuing to play political musical chairs with the lives of the people of Johannesburg is guaranteed to cause only further instability and decline,” he said.
“The DA calls on all political parties in Joburg to put aside their own narrow political ambitions and instead support our motion for fresh elections to elect a stable new government that can rescue Johannesburg.”
TimesLIVE
DA to call for fresh elections in Johannesburg
This could be the party's attempt to test whether the multiparty charter coalition could succeed in snatching Gauteng away from the ANC at next year's general elections.
Image: Sisanda Mbolekwa
The DA is this week expected to call for fresh elections in Johannesburg and the dissolution of the city council.
TimesLIVE has learnt that the party will on Thursday forego its motion of no confidence against the mayor, Kabelo Gwamanda, postponing it to November.
Instead the DA is expected to put forward a motion calling for fresh elections to be held across Johannesburg.
This could be the party's attempt to test whether the multiparty charter coalition could succeed in snatching Gauteng away from the ANC in next year's general elections.
According to a DA Gauteng chairperson Fred Nel, the DA will propose the council be dissolved to make way for elections to be held within 90 days.
Nel says the DA believes residents of Johannesburg must get a chance to stabilise the chaotic council that has had four mayors in 21 months.
“Should our motion succeed, by-elections will be held across Joburg within 90 days, giving voters another chance to elect a new, more stable city council that can begin to rescue our country’s biggest city,” said Nel.
The city has been marred by political instability since the 2021 local government elections where smaller parties, some with a single seat, were given power to determine the direction of the council, becoming kingmakers in the election and removal of mayors and voting on budgets.
The DA believes the only solution is to hold new elections in Johannesburg.
“The DA brings this motion in the interest of all residents of Joburg, who are tired of the political instability that has brought service delivery to its knees. This instability can only be fixed by allowing voters the opportunity for a fresh mandate,” said Nel.
“The root cause of Joburg’s instability is the excessive political fragmentation that followed the November 2021 local government elections. This fragmentation led to no fewer than 18 parties gaining representation in council — with eight of those parties holding the balance of power despite only gaining a single seat each.”
The DA said it was time to end what it called a “painful charade” and that the no-confidence motion in Gwamanda would not solve the root cause of the city’s instability but only add to the already existing negative impact on service delivery.
“The DA cannot play a role in aggravating this instability. We will not participate in a government unless it is both stable and ethical. Neither will we do anything that puts the Patriotic Alliance into power, as this party is mired in allegations of corruption, cadre deployment and once again voted for the ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay just last week,” said Nel.
“The DA is in the business of providing an alternative to the ANC, while the PA is an alternative version of the ANC.”
A DA leader confirmed to the Sunday Times that fresh elections in Johannesburg were “in line with our plans there”.
According to Nel, the party has already reached out to its former coalition partners in Johannesburg “inviting them to help us put politics aside by passing this motion”.
The party says the current composition in Johannesburg cannot produce a stable government.
“The only way out of this impasse is to go back to the voters to ask them to reconsider their mandate to avoid repeating the chaos of the past two years since the 2021 elections,” he said.
“Going back to the voters of Joburg for a refreshed mandate in the current circumstances, should be seen as part of SA’s ongoing maturation as a coalition country.”
Should the council reject the proposal for fresh elections, the DA says it will, going forward, abstain from voting on any no-confidence motions and will instead write to the provincial and national government calling for the dissolution of the council.
“Continuing to play political musical chairs with the lives of the people of Johannesburg is guaranteed to cause only further instability and decline,” he said.
“The DA calls on all political parties in Joburg to put aside their own narrow political ambitions and instead support our motion for fresh elections to elect a stable new government that can rescue Johannesburg.”
TimesLIVE
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