Tania Campbell was last night removed as the Mayor of Ekurhuleni by 126 votes for her removal and 91 against . This is the second time she has been voted out in less than six months.
In October 2022, the DA’s Campbell was ousted, but reinstated just two weeks later after EFF voted with DA and ActionSA against the ANC after ANC failed to meet their end of the deal.
At the time of the split, the ANC in Ekurhuleni led by Mzwandile Masina had refused to support the EFF’s provincial leader, Nkululeko Dunga, as the mayoral candidate and in the process defied instructions from the party provincial structures.
During last night’s heated debate Dunga argued that Campbell must be removed because her administration has failed the poor.
“When the opportunity arises we will not hesitate in removing the arrogance of the white establishment. No amount of systematic propaganda by the Fourth Estate can ever attack the incompetence of this administration,” he said.
Using the ‘N’ Word, Dunda said the way the DA treated its black members was not different from how African Americans were treated by slave masters.
The use of the ‘N’ word got Councilors outraged calling for Dunga to withdraw the word until
The ANC’s Chief Whip Bongizizwe Hlabathi intervened and called for calm then Dunga withdrew.
Cope Councilor Thomas Mofokeng weighed in and accused Campbell of failing to introduce any economic development plans during her tenure as Mayor that would have turned Ekurhuleni into an industrial hub.
However, ActionSA Councilor Michael Basch said despite Campbell’s shortcomings they would still vote for her to stay in office because for them it was a choice between the DA’s ‘problematic’ leadership and the ANC’s ‘outright awful’ leadership.
“If we have a choice between Campbell’s problematic leadership, and the ANC’s outright awful leadership, we choose problematic,” quipped Basch.
In October last year, ActionSA withdrew two of its Members of the Mayoral Committee, Charlotte Zitha and Tlhogi Moseki from Campbell’s administration saying they are better off and would serve better outside her administration.
The former mayor will be vacating office after serving a total of 16 months since her election in November 2021.
AIC Councillor Sivuyile Ngodwana is nominated against Campbell for mayoral position.
Ngodwana is backed by ANC, EFF and the so-called super seven minority parties including PAC, UDM, ATM and Independent Citizens Movement.