Early Christmas for Phalatse as she survives another no-confidence vote

The two parties deny they backtracked on their planned ouster due to a lack of numbers, saying they’ll instead allow the mayor an opportunity to prove that her multi-party government has not mismanaged the city’s finances.

At the same time the AIC’s Margaret Arnolds, who sponsored one of the motions, said the decision to withdraw was also informed by ongoing talks between the ANC and EFF - who’ve had to manage tensions following the catastrophic attempt to push out Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell.

“Yes, the EFF is still committed to the minorities, and the ANC is still committed to the minorities and I am certain that by the weekend we’ll have an answer from Ekurhuleni and we’ll be able to deal with all these issues,” Arnolds said.

With her opponents plotting to table another motion in the new year, Phalatse said she remains concerned by the frequency of such votes in council. 

“Ekurhuleni has a six-month rule, Parliament has a six-month rule but the City of Johannesburg has no limit to the number of motions that can be brought and that’s problematic. It does not speak well for stability and that’s something that really urgently needs to be looked at,” Phalatse said.

The ANC’s Dada Morero explained the sudden U-turn by saying they received instruction from the party’s provincial executive to hold off on the motion.

But he warned that they would table it again in the new year.

“We received instruction just around 12pm that there’s ongoing debates and discussions between the PEC of the ANC and the national leadership of the EFF in terms of consolidation of numbers and we were therefore instructed to withdraw the motion…the likelihood is that the motion will be tabled in the new year.“

Phalatse has described the two failed motions against her as desperate and lacking substance.

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