Post Local Government Elections

Post Local Government Elections

The game was on for selecting mayors in the metros!

Following the political shakeup that came with the Local Government Elections on 1 November, power dynamics in the country's major municipalities have been decided through coalitions and bloc voting. The elections saw a drop in voter turnout and a decrease in support for leading parties, resulting in 68 hung councils out of the 213 municipalities in the country.

In the battle for the title of mayor in the country's key municipalities, the DA walked away with more than half of South Africa's coveted metropolitan municipalities. While the ANC retained control of eThekwini and Nelson Mandela Bay, the DA is incharge of municipalities such as Johannesburg, Tshwane and Cape Town, thanks to support from smaller parties.

Heading up the City of Cape Town is the Democratic Alliance (DA)'s Geordin Hill-Lewis.

Mayor Hill-Lewis is officially the youngest mayor to hold office in Cape Town. Mayor Hill-Lewis moves to the local government sphere after serving in Parliament for more than a decade. He previously served as the DA's shadow minister for Finance and as shadow minister for Trade and Industry.

On joining Parliament in 2011, Mayor Hill-Lewis was the youngest MP to be elected since 1994. Mayor Hill-Lewis has also previously served as chief-of-staff to the then leader of the Democratic Alliance and Premier of the Western Cape, Helen Zille. He became involved in politics as a student while studying at the University of Cape Town and, while there, launched the DA's first student branch.

He went on to complete a master's degree in Finance at the University of London. The DA won the most votes in Cape Town during the local government elections, having secured 58%. This is the fourth time the party has secured the ruling majority in the City.

Mayor Hill-Lewis received 141 votes, with the ANC's Noluthando Makasi receiving 46 and Cape Independence Party's Jack Miller receiving two. There were 15 spoilt ballots and 20 abstentions. "It is the single greatest honour of my life to be officially elected as the mayor of the City of Cape Town. Thank you for placing your faith in me. I will make sure this faith has not been misplaced. Now, our work starts to make Cape Town a beacon of hope for SA," he said in a social media post.

During his inaugural speech, Mayor Hill-Lewis said he planned to address critical areas such as releasing public land for housing, taking over the rail network, and electricity supply to the City, and increasing free basic services. He announced this would take the form of an increase to the City's allocation to free basic services by over R600-million in the next financial year.

This is the equivalent of a 20% increase in the City's investment in free basic services, which assist vulnerable residents.

Retaining his seat as mayor in the City of Tshwane is a long-standing councillor, and seasoned politician, Randall Williams.

Mayor Williams was elected as mayor of Tshwane on 30 October 2020. Just over a year later the DA candidate ran unopposed for the seat following the local government elections in November. Mayor Williams received support from both ActionSA and the EFF, tipping the scales in the DA’s favour in a hung council.

Following the election, the DA won 32.03% of the vote (69 seats). The ANC won 34.63% (75 seats), while ActionSA won 8.64% (19 seats) and the EFF won 10.69% (23 seats). ANC councillors in Tshwane chose not to participate in the election process, except to express their disagreement.

The support was not surprising after ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said the party would vote for a DA mayor in Tshwane to avoid the alternative of an ANC run council. The ActionSA leader said the party would work with the DA in "the interests of service delivery, fighting corruption and job creation", something that had been demonstrated through their voting.

However, the two parties do not have a formal agreement.The EFF's voting also appears to have been against the ANC, instead of for the DA.

Mayor Williams said: "I would like to thank Tshwane residents for strengthening our country's democracy.

I accept the role of Executive Mayor with deep gratitude and humility, and I am encouraged by the faith that has been placed in me to once again lead our great city."

The mayor hails from the Cape Flats, in Cape Town, and completed a Master of Law degree in International Investment and Trade Law from Stellenbosch University. Before he was appointed mayor in 2020, he served on the council as the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Economic

Development and Spatial Planning. He has previously held the position of Chairperson of the Municipal Appeals Tribunal between 2016 to 2019. Mayor Williams has other government experience, having worked for the Department of Trade and Industry in the International Trade and Economic Development Unit, as Chief Director of Trade Policy and Negotiations.

Gauteng's economic powerhouse received its first female mayor after Dr. Mpho Phalatse was voted into the role following the local government elections. The DA candidate takes control from outgoing ANC mayor Mpho Moerane.

Mayor Phalatse won by 23 votes to secure leadership of the hung council. The DA takes up the mayor’s seat thanks to votes from ActionSA and the EFF, who voted in favour of the party to prevent the ANC from taking control of the metro. The local government elections left Johannesburg with a hung council after the ANC secured 33.6% of the votes, and the DA 26%.

Mayor Phalatse began undergraduate studies at the University of Witwatersrand, in Chemical Engineering, in 1995 but changed direction after realising she wanted to focus on a more peoplecentred career. This led her to complete a degree in medicine, which she obtained in 2005. She completed service at a number of hospitals and clinics in Gauteng before focusing on project management and exploring service delivery models.

Mayor Phalatse has experience running a disability consulting services company; working as a casualty officer at the Alexandra Community Health Centre; a sexual assault care practitioner; and has served on the Professional Conduct Committee of the Health Professions Council of South Africa. She served as a DA PR councillor before taking up the appointment of Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Health and Social Development.

As MMC, Mayor Phalatse championed the extension of service hours in clinics, as well as the City of Johannesburg's multi-pronged substance abuse prevention and treatment strategy.

She also has a career in corporate coaching through the Global Institute for Organizational Coaching, where she focuses on mentoring and coaching young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. Mayor Phalatse has committed to creating stability in the city, vowing that the coalition government will not fail as in the past.

ANC candidate Eugene Johnson has taken the mayor's seat in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality, narrowly beating the DA's candidate.

Mayor Johnson secured 60 votes, slipping ahead of DA candidate and former mayor Nqaba Bhanga who secured 59 votes. The fight for the mayor's position mirrored the neck-and-neck race for control of the municipality at the polls. Following the election, the DA secured 39,92% of the vote (48 seats), while the ANC secured the same number of seats with 39.43% of the votes.

The new mayor was voted in with the help of a bloc of 10 seats cobbled together between GOOD, AIM, the UDM, DOP, Northern Alliance and the PAC. Mayor Johnson is only the second woman to hold the position since 1994. She is a seasoned businesswoman who has over 20 years of experience in governance.

She has served on the National Economic Development and Labour Council and has consulted widely on labour, community engagement, NGO governance, and local government policy. She also previously consulted for a Swedish-funded NGO, Ubutyebi Trust, on urban development and human settlements in the municipality. She is no stranger to the running of the council, having served as councillor from 2005 to 2010. Mayor Johnson has vowed to create stability in the local government, as well as weed-out corruption. Her focus areas will include creating an environment conducive to economic development, supporting small businesses, and creating jobs. This will include ensuring service delivery runs smoothly to the benefit of the local economy.

"Critical to economic development is rooting out corruption and all its manifestations. The biggest challenge we are facing is unemployment, we need to deal with it," the mayor said. Mayor Johnson has also said she will address the water crisis in the municipality, starting with reducing water consumption significantly and fixing ageing water infrastructure.

Mxolisi Kaunda has been reelected as the mayor of eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, taking the position with 113 votes over DA opponent Nicole Graham. The ANC candidate secured the vote with the help of smaller parties on the council after the elections resulted in a hung council. The ANC secured 42% (96 seats), while the DA won 25.62% of the votes (58 seats). Mayor Kaunda has been involved in politics since he was in his teenage years, growing up in Inanda, north of Durban.

From the age of 15, he was involved in student politics and youth movements before becoming involved in the African National Congress Youth League structures. He completed a Diploma in Governance and Leadership at the University of South Africa before pursuing an advanced diploma in Advanced Governance and Public Leadership at the University of the Witwatersrand.

Mayor Kaunda later moved up the ranks of the ANC, being appointed to the Provincial Executive Committee, before participating in local government. He served as Ward Councillor between 2000 and 2006, and later as a PR Councillor. In 2009, he served as a Member of the Provincial Legislature and was then appointed to the position of chair of the Transport Portfolio Committee.

In 2014, Mayor Kaunda was elected to the Provincial Legislature. Two years later, he was appointed as the MEC for Transport, Safety, and Community Liaison. In September 2019, Mayor Kaunda was redeployed to the local government level and was appointed as mayor.