Joburg mayor Phalatse could face the chop today

THERE are strong indications that Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse and her mayoral committee will be ousted today, following the announcement that the metro council will hold an urgent sitting to table a motion of no confidence against her.

Should the motion of no confidence against Phalatse succeed, this will see a rearrangement of the Joburg council, with the ANC back in the seat of power.

Newly elected council speaker Colleen Makhubele called the urgent sitting yesterday afternoon, flexing her muscles as the new chief in town.

Makhubele said the reason for the urgent meeting was to ensure that the residents of Joburg start receiving proper service delivery immediately as she begins her term as speaker. She was also sworn in yesterday. “The residents of the city should not be kept waiting for what is due to them. The DA-led coalition needs to reflect on what they have done for the residents, which is nothing,” Makhubele said.

Meanwhile, there were tensions between the Patriotic Alliance and the multiparty coalition following the PA’s decision to vote with the opposition bloc and crown Makhubele as the new speaker of council.

PA deputy president Kenny Kunene admitted there was tension between the PA and the DA-led coalition. Despite this, Kunene said, the PA was still willing to be engaged.

“We will wait for the DA to engage us, the ANC is engaging us, let’s see what happens. If we believe that the DA is giving us what is better than the ANC, then we will decide,” he said.

Kunene said DA-led coalitions had problems of service delivery and financial mismanagement.

“This is about issues of service delivery. Now they can’t pay salaries in Tshwane and they cannot pay service providers in Johannesburg, all of that because they cannot manage finances properly,” Kunene said.

The multiparty coalition’s spokesperson, Corné Mulder, said the coalition was still willing to engage the PA for the sake of the residents of Johannesburg and its constituency.

“The multiparty coalition will engage the PA in the coming days and we will do so in the interests of the residents of Johannesburg and the PA’s constituency whose service delivery needs would be served better by this multiparty coalition rather than one led by the ANC,” Mulder said.

He said should Makhubele succeed in calling for a council sitting the coalition would seek a court interdict.