Tshwane council declares four vacancies as council meets to elect new mayor

Tshwane’s city manager has declared four vacancies for proportional representative (PR) councillors to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) as tensions in the metro continue to simmer.

Nkele Molapo’s membership of ActionSA was terminated after an internal investigation found that she had shared party information with her husband, Abel Tau. Tau was dismissed from ActionSA in November 2022 amid allegations of sexual harassment and accusations of abusing council resources.

Mandla Mhlana and Mpho Baloyi, were dismissed after an investigation into their defying the party and voting for former mayor Murunwa Makwarela and newly elected speaker Mncedi Ndzwanana on February 28 and March 13, respectively.

COPE member Thabang Sefanyetso was briefly appointed to to replace disgraced former mayor Makwarela, who submitted a fraudulent rehabilitation of insolvency certificate.

Party factions in Tshwane said the vetting process has still not been conducted after the Makwarela scandal. Some councillors have questioned the appointment of Sefanyetso, who is said to have two ID documents and a criminal record. 

That led COPE to withdraw Sefanyetso and a vacancy was declared.

On Friday, a council meeting at which a new mayor was expected to be elected collapsed when the DA and ActionSA walked out to express their disgruntlement with city manager Johann Mettler.

ActionSA chair Michael Beaumont accused Mettler of refusing to declare the vacancies.

“Having considered all the developments which occurred during last week’s council meetings, the city manager of Tshwane, Mr Johann Mettler, has written to the Gauteng provincial officer of the Independent Electoral Commission informing him of the declaration of four vacancies for proportional representative councillors,” the city said in a statement. “The three vacancies are for ActionSA and one for the Congress of the People.”

A council meeting took place on Wednesday morning to elect a mayor. The DA-led coalition said it continued to support former parliamentarian Cilliers Brink for the position, while the ANC/EFF is said to have thrown its weight behind Molwantwa Tshabadi of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).

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