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A dramatic Friday as City of Joburg elects Dada Morero as mayor after Mpho Phalatse gets the chop

A dramatic Friday as City of Joburg elects Dada Morero as mayor after Mpho Phalatse gets the chop
DA opposition party members break out in song and dance . 30 September 2022, Johannesburg. Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed.
Queenin Masuabi
By Queenin Masuabi
30 Sep 2022
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The DA has lost the City of Joburg to the ANC after falling out with parties who are a part of the multiparty coalition.

It was a chaotic morning in the City of Joburg as parties had now former mayor Mpho Phalatse’s future in their hands. The motion of no confidence in Phalatse was the first agenda item that saw the DA leading a series of disruptions. 




The back-and-forth between parties aligned with the DA and those aligned with the ANC continued for about an hour before Speaker Colleen Makhubele could begin the business of the day. Eventually, the motion was passed  with 139 councillors voting for Phalatse to be removed. The votes came from the Patriotic Alliance, the United Independent Movement, Al Jama-ah, the African Independent Congress, African Heart Congress, UDM, Good, Cope and the African Transformation Movement. Multiparty coalition partner ActionSA did not attend the sitting, while the IFP decided to abstain from the vote. 



Disgruntled DA members decided to leave the chambers after Phalatse was removed, which left 145 councillors who had to vote in a new mayor. Good party’s Lloyd Phillips then nominated ANC caucus leader Dada Morero. By virtue of being the only nominee, Morero was then announced as the new executive mayor of the city by Makhubele. 



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Cheers came from the gallery as minority parties and ANC members sang and danced. 

At the same time, Phalatse’s bid to have the sitting interdicted was struck off the roll by the Johannesburg High Court without costs. 

Read more in Daily Maverick: “Cope’s Colleen Makhubele unshaken after causing a stir in Joburg coalition government”

The court’s reasoning was that Phalatse had already been ousted before the matter could be heard virtually.

Joburg Council members in dispute on 30 September 2022. (Photo:  Shiraaz Mohamed)



DA opposition party members break out in song and dance. (Photo: Shiraaz Mohamed)



Phalatse believes that procedures were not followed to call the programming meeting and that some members of the committee were notified at the very last minute. She notes that at least three days’ notice should have been given for the council sitting. 

Morero promises to fix the City of Joburg

Morero then delivered his first address in which he said he would prioritise balancing council’s finances, developmental service delivery and implementation of the energy sustainability strategy to ensure the delivery of conventional power.

Read more in Daily Maverick: “What happens in Joburg now? No mayor can stop our city from breakdown”

“It is heart-breaking that the city’s main entities are financially on their knees with unsustainable overdrafts, such as City Power on an R8-billion negative cash balance. How do we fix a city that has financially collapsed? Ten months of golden promises have taken us 100 years back. Indeed, the City is not financially stable. Collectively we can fix this mess. Thank you for trusting us with the task of leading the City of Johannesburg,” he said. 



Morero also thanked the minority parties that had propelled him to his new position: “Today is a good day. It is a good day to fall in love again. To the minority parties, well done. You got us to this point and for that we thank you. Minority parties must never be undermined. They earned their seat in Council and their voice must be heard.

Who is Dada Morero? Read a short bio here:

“Thank you to the EFF and PA, political parties in council that used their consciousness to create a historical change in the City of Johannesburg. Thank you to the African National Congress for trusting me with the task of leading the people of Johannesburg.” DM

 

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