Johannesburg - There is no end in sight for the political instability that has characterised the unstable coalition government in the City of Joburg.
The City of Johannesburg has had eight mayors in just over two years. Recently, the city witnessed a successful motion of no confidence against former mayor Mpho Phalatse, who was ousted after serving a turbulent 13-month stint in the hot seat.
Last month, in a third motion of no confidence in as many months, Phalatse was voted out of office in a bid sponsored by the ANC and other minority parties. Phalatse was booted out of office with 140 votes, while the DA and other parties came in with 129 votes.
In her place, Thapelo Amad, of the Al Jama-ah party, has taken over as the new mayor of the country’s biggest and richest metropolitan council.
His election to the throne has come at the expense of service delivery following a merry-go-round of unstable coalitions.
Amad’s rise to the echelons of power came after a bruising 2022 in which Phalatse survived two motions against her that were sponsored by the ANC with support from Cope and other minority parties.
In September, following a failed motion, Phalatse was briefly removed and replaced by ANC chairperson for the greater Johannesburg region, Dada Morero, whose stint was short-lived, lasting just 25 days following a court ruling that eventually re-instated Phalatse back in her position.
Speaking to The Star, Unisa political analyst professor Dirk Kotze said the politics of the city of Johannesburg metro have rendered the governance of the city into disarray, adding that the ANC has not been able to establish a stable coalition even with more than 20 seats in the metro.
"When it comes to Johannesburg, what we are seeing there is that the ANC could not establish a stable coalition, even though it has a majority of 20 seats over the DA, and strictly speaking, they are in the position to form a coalition. As a result, the DA formed a minority coalition and was dependent very much on the support of the EFF, which in itself is an unstable foundation," Kotze said.
Kotze said that over time, the city's two leading parties (the ANC and the DA) have been unable to form coalitions, because they have been held hostage by small parties, adding to the city's instability.
"The lesson, I think everyone is learning is that coalitions only work really well when there two bigger parties and not so many parties and when parties are not vulnerable for invitations to move over to the other side simply for the positions," Kotze added.
Kotze said there was no end in sight to what continues to be a merry-go-round and a circus of political instability brought on by petty party politics instead of a genuine need to serve the citizens.
Prior to this merry-go-round, the ANC had a firm grip on the City of Johannesburg, believed to be the biggest and richest city, which holds the key to economic resources with a budget of R73 billion a year.
During the previous local government elections in 2016, the City of Joburg saw the ANC losing the metro’s control to Herman Mashaba’s DA, with Mashaba subsequently resigning in the middle of his term in 2019, resulting in the return of the ANC with Geoff Makhubu as the man in charge between 2019 and early 2021 following his passing.
Makhubu was briefly replaced by Eunice Mgcina as acting mayor following a special sitting at the city council; Joledee Matongo was subsequently elected unopposed. However, the city was not to see Matongo as mayor for long after his death in September 2021, two months before the 2021 local government elections.
He gave way to Mpho Moreane, who briefly took over before the local government elections, which saw the DA return through a coalition government.
"We are seeing lately that the EFF and ANC are not coming to terms as to who should take over the mayorships of Joburg, Ekurhuleni, and Tshwane. This has resulted in both of these parties opting out and electing instead a mayor from a minority, such as Al Jam-Ah," Kotze said.
The Star