Gauteng metro chaos explained
The three metros of South Africa’s economic hub, Gauteng, are on the cusp of a massive shake-up as politicians and political parties manoeuvre and look to chop and change leadership and power.
The cities of Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane are all currently governed by coalitions, given that no party received an outright majority mandate to govern in the most recent 2021 local government elections.
As of 24 July 2024, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni are run by coalitions comprising the African National Congress (ANC), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Patriotic Alliance (PA) and other smaller parties represented in the council.
Tshwane is currently run by a coalition comprising the Democratic Alliance (DA), ActionSA, Freedom Front Plus (FF +), African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and other smaller parties.
However, this has not been consistent since the 2021 municipal election, when a revolving door of executives was evident.
Since November 2021, Ekurhuleni has seen four administrations, Johannesburg has seen five, and Tshwane has seen three.
Now, this number may go up yet again – and all at the same time.
There is reportedly growing tension in the working relationships between coalition partners Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, prompting the ANC to seek new backers.
Meanwhile, in Tshwane, the ANC has tabled a motion of no confidence against DA mayor Cilliers Brink and his multi-party executive in a fresh bid to oust the DA from governing the city.
Johannesburg
The country’s economic hub, which contributes almost 20% to the national GDP, has 18 parties represented in its council.
Currently, Johannesburg has Al Jama-ah’s Kabelo Gwamanda as its executive head. He replaced fellow party councilor Thapelo Amad, who resigned hours before a no-confidence vote.”
Prior to Gwamanda and Amad, Johannesburg experienced two DA-led coalitions (under Mpho Phalatse), both of which collapsed after the PA changed partners. Additionally, there was a short-lived ANC-led coalition (under Dada Morero).
Gwamanda and Amad, whose party makes up around 1% of the council, were backed by the ANC, EFF, PA and other smaller parties in a ‘Government of Local Unity (GLU) to the position after the ANC and EFF refused to be led by mayors from each others parties.
The Al Jama-ah mayors’ major backers received MMC positions in return.
However, the GLU has increasingly been at odds with itself, which was exacerbated since the formation of the national GNU, which excludes some of the key GLU partners, including the EFF.
Notably, the EFF recently did not with its coalition partners on the proposal of an R2.5-billion loan from the Agence Française de Développement spearheaded by the ANC, which caused some friction.
Over time, there has been mounting pressure for Gwamanda to step down
Recently, the Johannesburg Crisis Alliance, made up of numerous civil society organisations, demanded Gwamanda’s resignation, citing “inadequate leadership amidst a worsening governance crisis” in the country’s economic hub.
This put the ANC in an awkward situation, prompting them to look for alternatives for a ‘stable government’ with local government elections just over two years away after they dropped over 17 percentage points in the recent national elections.
The ANC, which holds the most amount of seats in the city’s council, is itching to get its way back into the helm of the city’s government – and is looking for those who could back them for this, given that many in their current GLU refuse to be under an ANC mayor (particularly the EFF).
As a result, the ANC recently approached ActionSA to solicit their support for a new government in the Johannesburg, given that they hold a crucial 44 out of the 270 seats in the council.
ActionSA said that it would support this on several conditions, namely:
- The removal of Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda;
- Immediate reversal of the R200 surcharge imposed by City Power on prepaid users;
- Introduction of a series of motions aimed at addressing key frontline service delivery issues, including infrastructure renewal and rejuvenation of the Inner City;
- Have the ANC facilitate the resignation of the current ATM Speaker in the City of Tshwane.
This support is expected to help the ANC regain control of the city through a coalition (though not with ActionSA). The ANC told Business Day that they expect Gwamanda to resign soon.
However, there is one issue – Al Jama-ah said that Gwamanda has no intention of resigning and still has the backing of GLU partners, the EFF and PA.
This would mean that if the ANC wants to see Gwamanda out, they are going to have to initiate a motion of no confidence against him and rely on the support of parties who do not make up the city’s GLU.
Tshwane
The city of Tshwane, with 15 parties in its council, is currently headed by DA mayor Cilliers Brink, who has the backing of coalition partners ActionSA, FF+ and others.
He succeeded COPE’s Murunwa Makwarela, who was backed by the ANC, EFF, AIC and other smaller parties, but was later removed from office.
This was preceded by another DA-led coalition led by Randall Williams, who ultimately resigned as a result of pressure from coalition partners.
On 19 July, ANC regional chairperson Eugene Modise announced that they wanted Brink out and revealed that the party is set to file a motion of no confidence against him and, ultimately, the executive.
“The motion follows a deterioration of the state of governance, including financial management, and a litany of misrule and a staff component that is despondent,” claimed Modise.
“Since June 2023, we have witnessed the rapid deterioration of governance in political oversight, management, and the financial status of the city,” he added.
With the current coalition in Tshwane holding onto a slim majority of 3 votes, it is expected that the motion will not pass, unless parties break rank.
This has thrown a spanner in the works as the DA is the ANC’s biggest coalition partner at a national level. However, the ANC in Tshwane said that they believe the city’s no-confidence vote against Brink will not impact the GN as they were “blessed” by their higher structures.
Ekurhuleni
The city of Ekurhuleni, made up of 16 parties in its council, is currently under a “GLU” like that seen in Johannesburg.
However, unlike their neighbour to the west, the city is currently headed by ANC’s Nkosindiphile Xhakaza.
This is after the African Independent Congress (AIC) Sivuyile Ngodwana was recently removed as mayor of the city’s GLU through a motion of no confidence.
The AIC councillor, one of three of his oary’s councillors, had succeeded DA’s Tania Campbell, who served as mayor twice, from November 2021 until her removal in a motion of no confidence in October 2022 and again from November 2022 until her removal in a second motion of no confidence in March 2023.
In the build-up to the decision to remove Ngodwana and replace him with an ANC candidate, the co-governing partners, the ANC and EFF, were involved in a physical altercation in the council over this.
Ruffling some feathers, Xhakaza recently axed the EFF’s Gauteng chairperson Nkululeko Dunga from his position as MMC of Finance in the city, which exacerbated cracks in the co-governing arrangement between the ANC and EFF.
These cracks could result in a political shake-up.
ActionSA stated it will work with the ANC to “stabilise” Johannesburg and plans to do the same for Ekurhuleni soon.
Perpetual council instability
Speaking about instability in local government coalitions, the South African Local Government Association previously said that “what we have noticed is that in many instances, the coalition agreements that are being entered into by political parties are vague.”
“They are not being entered into on policy or any service delivery intentions. They are also no written coalition agreements. Furthermore, they are not based on the interest of the political parties,” said SALGA’s Sello Marokane.
The abovementioned administrations collapsed for various reasons; however, many have pointed to horse-trading and logrolling for political positions, which resulted in constant motions of no confidence against mayors and their executives.
The prioritisation of politics made service delivery take a back seat, with debates, meetings and council hearings about the composition dominating the council agenda.
“Unfortunately, [many] politicians are more concerned about staying in power and are willing to do whatever it takes to maintain power, even if it negatively affects public service provision,” wrote researchers Xolani Thusi and Nduduzo Ndebele.
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