South Africa local elections: ANC loses power in Johannesburg for first time

The DA reigns in City of Joburg.

Newly elected Executive Mayor for the City of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba has vowed to clamp down on corruption in the administration of the City.

She was attended to by paramedics and emergency personnel, but later died.

South Africa has always been used to one-party rule. The EFF and DA said showing your vote was a personal choice, but after a tense stand-off between EFF, ANC and IEC officials, voting was completed. We are caught between the two devils and had to choose a better devil. “We have to create Johannesburg to be that great city all of us want to live in”.

For the ANC, China presents an alternative way of developing an economy and lifting people out of poverty without fracturing a political structure in the process.

“The ANC in Johannesburg must know that no amount of bribery will ever reconcile you with the people who rejected you in a popular vote”. The ANC won with 121 seats.

The loss of Johannesburg and Pretoria capped a dramatic setback for the ANC, which has dominated South African politics since Nelson Mandela led the party to power in 1994 in the nation’s first democratic elections.

Mthembu said the ANC will work on its mistakes and listen to the people. Mashaba received 144 votes, defeating his predecessor, Parks Tau who received 125. Fowler added that the IEC had vetted all councillor candidates, and Bovu was among them.

This resulted in a cloud hanging over the election of Mayor and Chief Whip, with no chanting and singing, as was the case with the election of the Speaker. Even though the IEC gave clarity over the matter, the EFF argued that its members should be allowed to show their votes if they wished to.

While the DA will be savouring its unexpected victory here, it will be wise to remember the old martial maxim that you are often most vulnerable at the moment of your greatest triumph.

Despite the day’s tragic events, the council meeting continued and a new mayor was voted in.

“But before we start I need to ask the people of Johannesburg for patience”.