Africa-Press – South-Africa. A decision by the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg to reinstate 40 councillors from the EFF and the ANC has enabled the two parties to remove Mogale City Mayor Tyrone Gray in a no-confidence vote.
Gray was voted out of office on Thursday evening, with 43 councillors voting in support of the motion and 34 against. The same councillors voted to support the removal of Mogale City speaker Jacqueline Pannall.
DA councillors Pannall and Gray were voted into office with the help of the EFF following the local government elections in 2021.
After the elections, the ANC lost its majority in several municipalities, leaving key municipalities in Gauteng, including Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni, without a clear governance structure.
At the time, the EFF used its kingmaker status in Mogale City and several other hung municipalities to help vote in DA candidates to keep the ANC out of office.
This year, the EFF had a change of heart and was determined to prove it could govern, EFF Gauteng leader Nkululeko Dunga previously told News24.
Gray’s removal as Mogale City mayor was initially expected to happen last week, but the legal status of 40 ANC and EFF councillors remained in question. Pannall had suspended the 40 councillors after they collectively missed several council meetings.
The EFF and the ANC challenged the decision in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, and the councillors were eventually reinstated ahead of Thursday’s council sitting, where Gray was voted out.
The EFF celebrated the court ruling, saying the DA had been determined to cling to power without a majority.
The EFF said following the removal of Gray:
Gray said his removal was a hypocritical political stance by the EFF because the party had actively campaigned on keeping the ANC out of office and supporting his election as mayor.
“One party campaigned in 2021 to keep the ANC out and even carried a coffin covered in an ANC flag around the office, yet now they have supported the motion. This speaks directly to integrity, and without integrity, governance becomes perverted for private ends,” Gray said.
The ANC has partnered with the EFF to co-govern in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and the West Rand District Municipality.
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