Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse
- Mayor Mpho Phalatse says the no-confidence motions in her were baseless.
- The motions were withdrawn on Thursday.
- Phalatse has asked the council to review the rules around motions of no confidence.
Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse called the no-confidence motions to remove himself and members of the mayoral committee a “desperate attempt… without substance.”
The two motions were withdrawn in council on Thursday, the second day of its ninth regular session.
Two other members of the DA-led coalition were also facing no-confidence votes: Section 79’s gender, youth and disabled committee chair, DA councillor, Nakita Dellwaria, and Section 79 environment chair, infrastructure and service provision. committee, ActionSA councillor, Lerato Ngobeni.
These too were scrapped.
Phalatse said those who brought the motions “did not have confidence in their own abilities to garner enough support” to remove her or other executive members.
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“A reading of the two motions makes it clear that the desperate attempts and campaign to overthrow the multi-party government are without foundation.
“What we are dealing with is a political operation aimed at gaining power and access to the City’s bank account by any means possible, all at the expense of the residents,” he said.
“If there was in fact a case that I vouched for, substantive issues would have been brought up that talk about service delivery, governance and the rule of law, but they were never brought up.”
Phalatse also called on the council to “seriously consider the rules on motions of no confidence.”
“It can’t be that these motions are filed on a monthly basis, thus disrupting the business of management and council, and affecting the focus and morale of officers; and in some extreme cases, service delivery is affected,” he said.
“Our focus as a multi-party government is to ensure that quality services are provided to all six million residents and that we work with and for the residents to repair and rebuild Joburg until our electoral term reaches its natural conclusion in 2026.”
