Johannesburg has seen several mayors and speakers since the 2021 local government elections.
City of Johannesburg councillors will meet on Thursday to elect a new speaker.
This comes after Nobuhle Mthembu was removed as speaker last week in a motion of no confidence vote.
Mthembu is an ActionSA councillor.
She was removed after a fallout between her party and the ANC in Johannesburg.
The Citizen understands that the government of local unity (GLU), led by the ANC, will support the election of African Independent Congress (AIC) councillor, Margaret Arnolds.
Arnolds is currently the MMC of Finance. In 2023, she was elected Speaker of Council but was later removed after a deal between ActionSA and the ANC.
Sources in the Joburg council believe that if Arnold’s election is successful, it will lead to a reshuffle of the mayoral committee.
Mashaba’s party will abstain
Meanwhile, the third-largest party in council, ActionSA, said it would not be fielding a candidate for this election.
ActionSA president Herman Mashaba told The Citizen that the party will abstain from the election.
“We see no point in fielding a candidate. We cannot work with [Mayor] Dada Morero and he has also shown us that he does not need us, so there is no point,” he said.
Mashaba said ActionSA will play the role of opposition in the council instead.
“We will fight for the residents of Johannesburg from the opposition benches and we are also preparing for the next local government elections,” he said.
Who will the DA field?
Meanwhile, the official opposition in the council, the DA, said it would field a candidate for the speaker position.
The party’s caucus leader, Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku, declined to reveal the name of their preferred candidate.
“The DA Joburg caucus resolved to field a candidate for Speaker,” she said.
Why the speaker position is important?
The speaker holds a powerful position in the municipality.
The elected councillor will be expected to deal with oversight and hold the executive accountable.
Sources in council believe electing a woman in this position will be a sensible thing, since the positions of mayor, chief whip and chair of chairs are all occupied by men.
The nominated councillors will need 136 votes to be successful.
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