Margaret Arnolds elected as new Joburg council speaker

She was the only nominee for the position and was sworn in during the extraordinary council sitting at the Constance Bapela Chambers on Monday.

Arnolds replaced Colleen Makhubele following her expulsion from the Congress of the People for joining the newly formed alliance, the South African Rainbow Alliance (SARA), without the party’s permission.

Her removal came hot on the heels of a ruling by the High Court in Johannesburg, which nullified the appointment of City Manager Floyd Brink.

Arnolds served briefly as finance MMC under Dada Morero before Morero’s own appointment was nullified by the courts earlier this year.

The newly elected speaker says she’s ready to hit the ground running - and preside over next week’s council meeting.

"We are now going to be able to have all the work that needs to be done in the city executed.  Our next council sitting will be next week; programming will be sometime this week,” Arnolds said.

She added that she is unfazed by the DA’s intention to bring a motion to dissolve the council.

The DA didn't attend the council meeting, a move the council’s chief whip, Sithembiso Zungu, labelled as disrespectful to residents.

"The DA will need 180 votes to do that, which I don’t think that they currently have. The GLU (Government of Local Unity) has the majority of votes,” said Arnolds.

 ALSO READ