Riyaz Patel
Joburg mayoral committee member (MMC), Funzela Ngobeni, has been announced as the DA candidate to take over from Herman Mashaba who steps down as executive mayor next week.
He currently serves as finance MMC.
Mashaba resigned as both mayor and a party member last month following the election of former leader Helen Zille as the party’s federal council chairperson.
He said his decision was spurred by the return of former party leader Zille – who provoked widespread anger in 2017 when she praised aspects of colonialism – to the DA’s leadership structures.
Zille’s election as Federal Council Chair this weekend represents “a victory for people in the DA who stand diametrically opposed to my beliefs and value system and I believe those of most South Africans of all backgrounds,” Mashaba said.
At the time, the outspoken mayor said he would stay on until November 27 to assist with the transition period.
It’s been reported that newly elected interim leader John Steenhuisen, who was voted in Sunday, met with the caucus Tuesday morning to communicate the decision taken by the federal executive.
A statement by the party’s Gauteng leader John Moodey said Ngobeni has been a long serving councillor who joined Mashaba’s executive in January 2018.
“The DA has been through a rigorous selection process before appointing him and is confident that should he be elected as the executive mayor of the DA-led city of Johannesburg on 28 November 2019, that he will continue the good work done by outgoing mayor Herman Mashaba,” said Moodey.
