Stevens Mokgalapa to remain mayor of Tshwane… for now

The Pretoria High Court ruled on Friday 27 December 2019 that Tshwane Mayor Stevens Mokgalapa and Speaker Katlego Mathebe will retain their positions after a vote of no confidence was placed against them on 5 December. 

As reported by EWN, the high court ruled that the matter involving the motions of no confidence in Mokgalapa and Mathebe would be heard as a matter of urgency.

All decisions made on 5 December at the council sitting – including Mokgalapa and Mathebe’s removals – were to be set aside pending the outcome of the urgent review into the proceedings. 

DA approaches court after vote of no confidence  

The DA approached the court after Mokgalapa and Mathebe were voted out, claiming the processes the council followed was flawed. 

“We believe everything that transpired has been unlawful in terms of the removal of the speaker and the executive mayor of the city of Tshwane. We will be approaching the courts as soon as possible. We hope the courts will rule in our favour,” the DA’s John Moodley told eNCA.

To initiate the motion, the Tshwane council, in the absence of a speaker and her deputy, elected a representative to preside over the meeting in an “acting” capacity.

That individual was the EFF’s Ramabodu Obakeng. According to the DA, this is not only unlawful, but it is a coup orchestrated by figures that want to capture Tshwane.

Why was Mokgalapa ousted? 

Labelled a lazy leader with a lacklustre approach to tackling issues facing Tshwane, the EFF – former allies of the DA – turned to the ANC to initiate the mayor’s removal. 

The smaller parties are pawns in this game of chess, so they were always going to follow suit with the majority.

Mokgalapa was accused of not getting a grip on the administration of Tshwane. He was also lambasted for not acting decisively on issues related to water and power supply that have hampered communities in the metro for the most part of 2019.

The only solution for the ANC and EFF was to remove Mokgalapa, along with his “stubborn” and “regressive” DA.