The City of Johannesburg Council has approved the establishment of a Deputy Mayor position, with 107 councillors voting in favour, 87 against, and 37 abstaining.
The EFF and the DA voted together in opposition but failed to secure enough support to block the motion. ActionSA, the ACDP, ATM and the UDM abstained.
ANC Johannesburg Region Secretary Sasabona Manganye says the new position is aimed at strengthening service delivery through better coordination.
“The ANC supported the establishment of the Executive Deputy Mayor for a simple reason — it will assist in coordinating service delivery and the work of the state,” Manganye said.
He also dismissed concerns about additional costs at a time when the city is facing financial strain.
“The Deputy Mayor position will not increase the number of mayoral committee members. The number will remain the same, which is 10. The Deputy Mayor will be one of the 10 MMCs,” he said, adding that he does not understand where claims of extra costs are coming from.
Earlier this week, Newsnote reported that the current MMC for Finance, Loyiso Masuku, is tipped to become the second-in-command to Mayor Dada Morero.
Meanwhile, a motion of no confidence against Mayor Morero was later deferred after a request for a secret ballot. The Speaker is expected to consult on the matter and may bring it back at a later stage.
Al Jama-ah councillor Thapelo Amad said the motion was not withdrawn but postponed to address concerns about the integrity of the voting process.
“The motion is not withdrawn, it is deferred until further notice. The proposer of the motion, Councillor Kabelo Gwamanda, has written a letter to the Speaker regarding the integrity of voting so that councillors are not compromised,” Amad said.
He added that additional security measures are being considered.
“So that we don’t expose councillors in a bad light,” he said, noting that the Speaker is still consulting with other spheres of government.
