Embattled Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse was ousted in a heated vote of no-confidence motion upheld on Thursday afternoon.
Mpho Phalatse voted out of Joburg mayor position
In a true showing of the dangers of coalition politics, the DA leader, whose tenure as Joburg mayor had been rocked by controversy, was ousted from her position in a voter turnout that ended in 140-129.
Phalatse had not reacted to the shocking developments at the time this article was published. However, according to reports, the embattled mayor’s hopes for surviving her second motion of no-confidence in four months were dashed when, in the 11th hour, coalition talks between the DA and Patriotic Alliance (PA) fell apart.
PA leader Gayton McKenzie laid the blame for the Joburg mayor’s fate squarely on the DA, who, he says, vehemently refused “to make one sacrifice for Mpho Phalatse.”
“I tell you, if this was a white mayor here, we would have had a deal today. But Mpho Phalatse was lifting up her hand and saying, ‘I wanna challenge John Steenhuisen. Now, she needs to be taught a lesson. Don’t look past what I’m telling you,” he said.
Phalatse’s recent ousting came after she was voted out of office back in September 2022, a motion that received the support of the PA. However, in a shocking twist, the motion was overturned by the Johannesburg High Court and Phalatse was reinstated as mayor, with her days all but numbered.
According to McKenzie, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba was pushing for a deal that would see Phalatse skirt a third coup attempt but, in the end, the mayor was allegedly sabotaged by her own political party.
However, Phalatse’s spokesperson Mabine Seabi, in an interview with Elvis Presslin on SAfm‘s First Take show, claimed the latest motion was merely “an attempt [by the opposition] to get their hands the City’s coffers.”
“We are heading into elections going in next year and a lot of political parties are without the necessary funds to campaign. This has nothing to do with service delivery, which the multiparty government has been pushing ahead with,” Seabi explained.
It remains to be seen if Phalatse will challenge the motion turnout this time around.