The Democratic Alliance’s ousted Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell says the coalition made a lot of progress in improving service delivery in the Gauteng Metro before she was ousted by the African National Congress (ANC).
The ANC brought a motion of no-confidence on Wednesday, saying service delivery in the Metro municipality had regressed.
The City of Ekurhuleni passed the motion with 100 votes to 93 against the motion in Germiston on Gauteng’s East Rand.
During a media briefing, Campbell pledged to continue her work on behalf of the residents as opposition leader in the council.
“While we’re clearly disappointed that the coalition of corruption succeeded in bringing an end to the good work, and the driven commitment of the multi-party coalition, we accept that we have an equally important role to play, from the opposition benches. The multi-party coalition has spent 10 months working to undo the damage done by the ANC, over the past two decades.
Mixed feelings
Residents of Ekurhuleni have expressed mixed feelings about the change in Ekurhuleni Metro. These residents say they have no hope that their issues will ever be addressed.
“It’s just politics. I don’t have any sentimental feelings about it. I just hope whoever comes in will be able to attend to our grievances,” says one resident. Another one adds, “We are not happy the ANC is still useless, I don’t like it.”
“I believe it is retaliation by opposition parties after the court order reinstating Phalatse in JHB. This is the danger of coalition politics. There is very little hope for the community when politics reigns over the needs of the people. I guess for us in Ekurhuleni, the problems we face will go unsolved,” claims another Ekurhuleni resident.
High Court decision in Johannesburg
Last month, the DA’s Dr Mpho Phalatse was ousted by an overwhelming 139 votes in a similar motion which has since been reversed by the courts.
African National Congress Johannesburg regional chair Dada Morero was then elected mayor following the ousting of Phalatse.
Mpho Phalatse expresses relief as High Court reinstates her as Johannesburg Mayor:
In its ruling, the court said that all the decisions taken by Morero as mayor were unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.
Morero has since stepped down officially.
