Johannesburg - Mayor Mpho Phalatse faces a new plan to oust her on Thursday through a motion of no confidence brought against her by minority parties in the City of Joburg.
Three motions of no confidence will be introduced during an extra-ordinary council sitting on Thursday and Friday. This will be the first time this year that a motion of no confidence will be introduced against Phalatse, with a great chance that it will succeed.
The Star understands that the Patriotic Alliance (PA) will vote Phalatse out in favour of a new coalition led by the minority parties in the City of Joburg.
PA deputy president Kenny Kunene accused the DA of being a bully and treating other political parties like sub-branches of the DA. This follows a breakdown in talks to win the PA over to the multi-party coalition and defend the mayor from being voted out.
“This arrogance of the DA, as the PA, we cannot tolerate. The DA is to blame for what happened last week that caused this coalition to collapse. The problem is this FedEx, which is full of white supremacists and right-wingers. This rudeness of the DA is the one that costs them coalitions,” Kunene said.
According to a spokesperson for the multi-party coalition, Corne Mulder, talks were continuing between the multi-party coalition and the PA to save the mayoral seat.
If the multi-party coalition fails to come up with a lucrative offer, the PA said it would vote with opposition parties to remove Phalatse as mayor.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba, on the other hand, said if Phalatse was removed, the DA would only have itself to blame.
ActionSA had offered its two positions in the City of Joburg to the PA in order to keep the ANC from coming back into power. But despite this, the DA seemed to have issues bringing the PA on board as a coalition partner.
“But we are still talking, and we are trying to make them come to their senses. The DA will take responsibility for this if we lose the City. We will work with anyone to keep the ANC out," Mashaba said.
The Star understands that a faction in the DA has grown tired of Phalatse’s leadership of Joburg and is trying to get rid of her. It was not clear if the DA was setting her up for failure with the current motion of no confidence looming.
The Star