CRUMBLING COALITIONS
Former Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Tania Campbell despondent after being booted out by ‘coalition of corruption’
Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Tania Campbell is the latest casualty of the ANC’s campaign to remove the DA from power in Gauteng municipalities.
Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Tania Campbell was ousted through a motion of no confidence on Wednesday afternoon when 100 councillors voted in favour of her removal, while 93 supported her continuing as mayor.
The motion, proposed by ANC councillors Khehla Madlala and Dora Mlambo, was debated by all political parties in the council before the register was taken to determine whether enough councillors were present to form a quorum.
Once a quorum was established, voting was done by a show of hands, which saw the majority of councillors voting for the motion, while the EFF abstained.
These are the parties who voted for the removal of #Ekurhuleni executive mayor Tania Campbell.
ANC 86, PA 4,AIC3, ATM1,Cope1,ICM1,IRASA1, NFP1,PAC1, UDM 1
The EFF, who are the kingmakers in the city decided to abstain.
— Queenin Masuabi (@Queenin_M) October 26, 2022
During the debate, the ANC accused Campbell of neglecting townships and failing to adequately serve communities falling under the city. It also slammed her for the recent changes she made to the composition of the multiparty Mayoral Committee.
In these changes, the DA’s Mabekenyane Thamahane took over the human settlements department while ActionSA’s Charlotte Zitha was appointed as MMC for health and social development, replacing Patriotic Alliance (PA) councillors Human Dino Peterson and Bakang Lethoko respectively.
The reshuffle followed a fallout between the DA and PA in the City of Joburg, which resulted in the multiparty coalition splitting.
Read more in Daily Maverick: “ANC in talks with ‘a certain political party’ about taking over governance of Ekurhuleni”
ANC Ekurhuleni caucus whip Jongizizwe Dlabathi had the following to say about Campbell’s apparent failures: “In addition to the Eskom crisis, the city has degenerated on power supply. We all know that the coalition is not coping and it does not have the capability to steer the city.”
DA councillors backed Campbell and pleaded with other parties to vote against the motion. Sinethemba Matiwane said it was time the ANC accepted it had lost power and should use its energy to support the coalition.
“The DA caucus has full confidence in Executive Mayor Tania Campbell,” he said.
Other parties in support of her included ActionSA, ACDP, FF Plus and the IFP.
The EFF caucus leader, Nkululeko Ndunga, said both the ANC and DA had not engaged with them about forming a partnership. He said the ANC had hastily tabled the motion. Ndunga said the EFF owed nothing to either party and was not obliged to participate in the motion.
DA #Ekurhuleni councillor Zelda Khathutshelo: By voting for a motion of this kind is saying that the #ANC can govern and we minority parties cannot govern…The ANC will stop at nothing to milk the city dry.
— Queenin Masuabi (@Queenin_M) October 26, 2022
Campbell was voted in after the 2021 local government elections with the help of the EFF, which at the time wanted to keep the ANC away from the mayoral chain. It was the first time Ekurhuleni had been governed by a party other than the ANC.
In reaction to being booted out, Campbell expressed her disappointment that what she deemed the “coalition of corruption” had succeeded in bringing an end to the work she and her executive were carrying out.
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“The multiparty coalition has spent 10 months working to undo the damage done by the ANC over the past two decades. We have managed to achieve a number of successes and have been able to bring changes for the better to the lives of many of our residents.
“Every one of the parties represented in the multiparty coalition has served diligently and carried out their responsibilities for the betterment of the residents of Ekurhuleni. They conducted themselves with the humility befitting of elected office-bearers. I want to thank each of them for their hard work,” she said.
The DA’s woes began in Johannesburg when council Speaker Vasco da Gama was voted out in September. This was followed by the removal of Mpho Phalatse as the City of Joburg’s executive mayor. Phalatse was recently reinstated after taking the matter to court.
The Gauteng High Court ruled in favour of Phalatse and declared the no-confidence motion, by means of which she was removed on 29 September, to be unconstitutional and invalid. DM
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Rob Hersov has egg on his face to expect anything good to come from the PA. Even if he’s friends with Gayton, when it comes to politics Gayton puts himself and his party above everyone else.
Birds of a feather….
This is not surprising. Even the DA itself did not expect they would have control over Ekurhuleni which is why their actual candidate for mayor was not even in Council during the vote after the last elections and Tania Campbell become mayor.
The electoral math is impossible to beat in Ekurhuleni as the ANC + EFF have over 50% of seats, unlike Tshwane and Johannesburg where there is realistic opportunity for the DA to form a majority coalition.
This is really good to show the voters how there votes are abused for power instead being served
I do not know whether T Campbell was a competent mayor or not. However, for these ANC morons to vote for her removal because of bad service delivery is idiotic. These incompetent imbeciles have destroyed hundreds of municipalities through incompetence, corruption and lack of engagement.
Surely this was partly a self-inflicted setback? Why would the DA in Ekurluhleni have replaced 2 PA Councillors – just because of what happened in JHB?
One wants to support what the DA is achieving, but that is a blatantly political tit-for-tat decision – not one based on merit or the performance of those Councillors.
Gayton McKenzie & Brett Herron have a point – minority Coalition partners should be treated with respect & humility.
Campbell can’t expect to be judged on the merit of her performance – if that privilege is not accorded to the members of her own Council. Petty party-political knee-jerk reactions must be stopped all round – and the DA should lead in that respect.
I don’t agree with the ‘humility’ bit but ‘respect’ yes. However, the minority parties need to acknowledge just that – they are in the minority. They should contribute fully to discussion on issues faced by the coalition but accept that the majority members have been supported by a significantly larger number of the electorate than have the one seat/two seat party members.
Well said Michel,
The DA is making a habit of alienating voters. It would have better served it’s interests if it had taken the higher road and left the PA councilors on the Mayco. Had the PA still voted against Tania, the result would’ve been the same, but the political ammo the DA would’ve gained against the PA . . .priceless!
Wake up DA (now pronounced Duh) you’re in politics, learn to play the game!
And why, whit a story about Ekurhuleni, did the writer feel the need to include a graphic of the make up of the JHB council, but not the same for Ekurhuleni?
I wonder what the going rate to buy council votes is these days? We know what it was in PE when Athol Trollip was ousted – from the court case against the three former DA councillors – R100, 000-.