DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE (DA) councillor Tanina Campbell was removed as the executive mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni on Wednesday following a motion of no confidence.
Campbell was accused of neglecting poor and working-class areas by not providing services such as water, electricity and proper roads.
Her removal comes a day after the high court in Johannesburg confirmed DA councillor Mpho Phalatse as Johannesburg executive mayor, after her unlawful removal in September, also through a vote of no confidence.
Lesego Makhubela, ANC Gauteng spokesperson, said the party welcomes the removal of Campbell through a motion of no confidence that was passed by the City of Ekurhuleni Council.
Makhubela said the motion, which was supported by the majority of the Council, was sponsored by the ANC Caucus as a mechanism of rescuing the municipality from the maladministration of the DA-led multiparty government.
He sad since coming into office in November 2021, the DA-led multiparty government has done nothing but reverse some of the most important work that it inherited from the ANC-led coalition government that preceded it.
“While the latter had adopted a pro- poor ideology that sought to improve the lives of the poor in the City, with townships and informal settlements being specifically targeted for developmental initiatives, the DA-led multiparty government had maintained the stance of hurling the poor at the margins,” said Makhubela.
“This was evidenced in the Service Delivery Coordination reports that were tabled by the multiparty government itself, which demonstrate the deterioration of service delivery in townships and informal settlements across the metro. The financial constraints that the City of Ekurhuleni is presently facing are a direct product of the collapse of governance under the DA-led multiparty government which approved the 2022/23 IDP/Budget that fails dismally to respond to the priority needs of communities in Ekurhuleni.”
“The said budget was finalised without any evaluation and considerable incorporation of the views of the public – a demonstration of complete disregard for constitutionality in which public participation is central.”
INSIDE POLITICS
