The ANC has re-established control of the City of Johannesburg and elected Dada Morero as mayor, following the ousting of the DA’s Mpho Phalatse.
ANC regains control of Joburg in dramatic ‘no confidence’ vote
Despite Phalatse’s valiant efforts to delay the inevitable, Friday’s motion of no confidence vote, orchestrated by the ruling party, saw the DA leader removed from her mayoral seat four months into her tenure.
As chaos ensued at the special council meeting, Phalatse approached the Johannesburg High Court in a desperate effort to halt proceedings with an interdict. This, however, had no bearing on the events that unfolded in the no-confidence vote.
In a true showing of the sheer danger of coalitions, the DA found itself isolated, with the IFP and Patriotic Alliance (PA) unwilling to tighten their clasps and prevent Phalatse’s inevitable fall from grace.
In the end, the IFP abstained from the vote, while the PA, EFF and other minority parties helped the ANC with 139 votes in favour of Phalatse’s exit.
The ousted mayor’s last hopes of a judicial intervention were crushed when the high court struck her interdict application off the roll.
With COPE’s Colleen Makhubele sworn in as Council Speaker on Wednesday, Phalatse’s days were numbered. Per Times Live, the decision to axe the DA leader came when the official opposition party refused to elect a new council speaker from coalition partners following the axing of Vasco Da Gama.
Five things we know about Dada Morero
In a swift turn of events, the ANC’s Dada Morero was elected City of Johannesburg mayor in an unopposed vote.
As the metro wraps its head around Friday’s dramatic events, we dug deeper into Morero and his background.
Here are five things we know about the City of Johannesburg’s new mayor.
He is a Wits Business School postgraduate
Sello ‘Dada’ Morero is a qualified cadre, something you rarely encounter in politics. From our research, we found that the new mayor of Johannesburg is the holder of a post-graduate diploma in Public Management reportedly obtained from the Wits Business School.
Morero also reportedly holds a Master’s degree from the Regenesys Business School.
He was part of the South African Secret Service
Morero may be a masterful strategist. Our research suggests his public service career started out as a member of the secret service. He then moved to the Department of Home Affairs, where he performed functions such as data collection, the preparation of dockets and the investigation of criminal syndicates.
He headed up the Marketing and Communications department at the City of Johannesburg
Following his stint as a crime syndicate marshall, Morero served as the director of customer communications and marketing for the City of Johannesburg.
Morero is the deputy chairperson of the Gauteng Partnership Fund
While it’s unclear if he still holds this position, Morero served under Mahlengi Bhengu, Chairperson of the Gauteng Partnership Fund, a public housing company owned by the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements.
He is a Virgo
Morero was born on 7 September. According to horoscope readings, the newly-elected City of Johannesburg mayor is a Virgo. According to Astro Yogi, characteristics of a Virgo man include:
- hard work;
- intelligence;
- adventure;
- rational thinking; and
- problem solving.