Coalition Meets Following Joburg Council Meeting

1 September 2022

Today the multi-party coalition concluded a meeting to discuss the events that transpired in the City of Johannesburg Council last night.

Parties expressed their disappointment at the behaviour of some councillors who appear to have been motivated by the ANC and its voting partners to betray the coalition agreement and the residents of Johannesburg.

All political parties in the coalition reiterated their commitment to the coalition and its continued service to the residents of Johannesburg, while condemning the acts of a handful of councillors who, undoubtedly, acted in their own self-interest last night.

At the heart of the events last night is an ANC and EFF that is desperate to get their hands on these Gauteng Metros. The effort to induce the support of individual councillors from the coalition is clearly an effort to violate the wishes of residents and return to a government that will continue the era of failed delivery, state capture and looting. This is what is at stake, and this is what the multi-party coalition will work night and day to prevent.

The multi-party coalition will now ready itself for the election of a Speaker of Council for which we are confident the coalition will once again achieve a majority of support. We remain committed to providing strong and stable governance and this requires a functional legislature to perform oversight of the executive.

The motion succeeding against the Speaker of Council is an obstacle, but the multi-party coalition reiterates that the executive (Mayor and Members of the Mayoral Committee) remain hard at work delivering services to the people of Johannesburg.

Yesterday’s meeting alone resulted in a number of important achievements for the residents of Johannesburg, including a process to reduce the City’s reliance upon ESKOM as well as measures to tackle illegal dumping.

Residents will continue to see their political leadership of the City hard at work to reverse the legacy of failed delivery and corruption inherited by decades of ANC governance, which this coalition is committed to address for the benefit of all residents in Johannesburg.

Statement issued by Dr Corné Mulder on behalf of the multi-party coalition, 1 September 2022