Pretoria – The Democratic Alliance’s Herman Mashaba was on Monday elected as the new mayor of the City of Johannesburg.
Vasco Da Gama of the DA was elected Speaker of the Council during the inaugural meeting of the City of Johannesburg Metro Council.
The marathon sitting was presided by Gauteng Judge President Dunstan Mlambo, who oversaw the swearing in of 268 of the 270 councillors. The other two candidates withdrew from the process.
The African National Congress holds 121 seats in the council, the DA 104 and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have 30 seats.
Mashaba set the tone for a business-like approach to address challenges in the city, while committing to make the fight against corruption an apex priority.
Johannesburg had become a hung council after no party secured an outright victory during the 2016 Local Government Elections on 3 August.
City manager Trevor Fowler, who presided over the session before the appointment of the Speaker, said this is the first time in the history of the democratic South Africa that no party has received an outright majority in the metro.
Fowler said the multiparty system requires tolerance from all sides, as the real winner is democracy. - SAnews.gov.za
