By Doreen Mokgolo
The mayor of Ekurhuleni, Sivuyile Ngodwana of the African Independent Congress (AIC), says he feels betrayed by the ANC after he was voted out of office on Thursday.
The ANC and DA abstained in the motion of no confidence against him.
The motion was tabled by ActionSA, with 47 councillors – including some ANC members who defied their party’s instructions – voting in favour of dismissing the mayor, while 32 councillors, mostly EFF, voted against.
Ngodwana, who was in office for a year, said while it was the ANC’s democratic right to abstain from voting, he felt betrayed.
“I was elected by the EFF and ANC to help unify them, as the mayor and today they [the ANC] decided to abstain in a motion tabled by the opposition.
“If I was given more time I would have delivered more of my plans for the metro,” he said.
AIC secretary-general Aubrey Mhlongo said the ANC has declared war on the AIC and will feel the repercussions in future.
“We feel betrayed by the ANC; we were depending on the party to survive the motion based on the relationship we have established since 2016.
“We are going to hit them where it hurts most – Ekurhuleni is not the only metro where we are in partnership with them. We are going to do the same thing.
“What happened here will affect the Joburg metro. Unlike the ANC, which can’t be trusted and defies their party instruction, the EFF sticks to the leader’s orders and position.
“This is not the first time the ANC has betrayed us. They did the same in Matatiele. They started this war and we will finish it,” he said.
ActionSA’s caucus leader, Siyanda Makhubo, said his party is pleased that the “puppet mayor” has finally been removed.
“We have always maintained that this administration was a disaster to begin with.
“We know councillor Ngodwana was a compromise candidate between the ANC and EFF when they couldn’t find each other with the minority parties and decided to field Ngodwana,” he said.
A new executive mayor is expected to be voted into office within a week
The speaker of the council, the EFF’s Nthabiseng Tshivhenga, survived a motion of no confidence, with 116 councillors, including the ANC and EFF, voting together for her to stay on, and 90 wanting her out.
Pictured above: Former Ekurhuleni mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana.
Image source: Doreen Mokgolo
