JOBURG Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda may breathe a sigh of relief.
This after the Democratic Alliance (DA) decided not to go ahead with its motion of no confidence against the Al Jama-ah leader next Thursday.
On Sunday, 27 August, Gauteng DA chairman Fred Nel said his party will move for an amendment to the motion of no confidence against the mayor at the city council meeting on Thursday, 31 August.
"The amendment will call for the motion to be postponed until 2 November, when two years have elapsed and the council will be legally entitled to dissolve itself," he said.
Nel said the amendment will instead now move that the Joburg council dissolve itself as soon as possible for new elections to take place.
He pointed out that should their motion succeed, by-elections would be held across Joburg within 90 days, giving voters another chance to elect a new, more "stable city council that can begin to rescue our country's biggest city".
He said the motion was brought in the interest of all residents of Joburg, who are tired of the political instability that has brought service delivery to its knees.
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"This instability can only be fixed by allowing voters the opportunity for a fresh mandate. The root cause of Joburg's instability is the excessive political fragmentation that followed the November 2021 local government elections.
"This fragmentation led to no fewer than 18 parties gaining representation in council - with eight of those parties holding the balance of power despite only gaining a single seat each," Nel said.
In the 21 months since the elections, Joburg has seen five changes of government and four different mayors.
Gwamanda has, however, praised his administration, which is led under the coalition led by the ANC and EFF, that it has made positive changes since taking power from the DA earlier this year.
Speaking at the site of the Riverside View Social Housing Project on Friday, 25 August where 180 houses were pronounced ready for occupation, the mayor said the project was one of the ways they were changing people's lives.
Nel said if the DA amendment to dissolve the council does not pass, they will abstain from voting on any further motions of no confidence.
