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The ANC’s Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has been elected as the new mayor of Ekurhuleni.
He was voted in unopposed on Thursday morning after a council meeting marred by a three-hour delay due to parties being locked in negotiations on who would be the best candidate to take over from ousted former mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana.
It is understood that the “super seven” minority parties insisted on the mayor being from the ANC — a plot twist from the initial Gauteng metro takeover deal between the ANC and EFF and minorities.
Previously, the idea was to field a minority party mayor and speaker, while the two major parties configured the mayoral committee seat allocation among themselves.
However, Xhakaza, an ANC deployee and Ekurhuleni regional task team member, now holds the seat as first citizen of the city. He served as a former MMC for group corporate and shared services under the axed Ngodwana. He is also a former finance & economic development MMC under former ANC mayor Mzwandile Masina.
The refusal of the DA to field a mayoral candidate or back an ActionSA candidate for the post resulted in a collapsed attempt to reconvene their previous multiparty government. This left no clear path for any alternative to the ANC-EFF marriage to emerge in Ekurhuleni.
Xhakaza is expected to stabilise the embattled coalition, having faced tensions in the past in the embattled ANC-EFF partnership in the council.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
ANC’s Xhakaza elected new Ekurhuleni mayor
The ANC’s Nkosindiphile Xhakaza has been elected as the new mayor of Ekurhuleni.
He was voted in unopposed on Thursday morning after a council meeting marred by a three-hour delay due to parties being locked in negotiations on who would be the best candidate to take over from ousted former mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana.
It is understood that the “super seven” minority parties insisted on the mayor being from the ANC — a plot twist from the initial Gauteng metro takeover deal between the ANC and EFF and minorities.
Previously, the idea was to field a minority party mayor and speaker, while the two major parties configured the mayoral committee seat allocation among themselves.
However, Xhakaza, an ANC deployee and Ekurhuleni regional task team member, now holds the seat as first citizen of the city. He served as a former MMC for group corporate and shared services under the axed Ngodwana. He is also a former finance & economic development MMC under former ANC mayor Mzwandile Masina.
The refusal of the DA to field a mayoral candidate or back an ActionSA candidate for the post resulted in a collapsed attempt to reconvene their previous multiparty government. This left no clear path for any alternative to the ANC-EFF marriage to emerge in Ekurhuleni.
Xhakaza is expected to stabilise the embattled coalition, having faced tensions in the past in the embattled ANC-EFF partnership in the council.
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