The City of Johannesburg is South Africa’s largest city and a prime economic centre. It is the biggest metropolitan municipality (and thus, the biggest municipality overall) in the country by population size, with an estimated to be 6.1 million population. Johannesburg is the biggest contributor to Gauteng’s GDP, with a value of R 959 billion in 2021, accounting for 44.15% of the province’s GDP. Thus, these factors make this municipality a strategic municipality for political parties to govern. This has partially influenced the heightened political competition around Johannesburg. As a result, the city has been governed by coalitions since the 2016 local government elections, with the African National Congress (ANC) obtaining 44.5% of the votes (121 seats).
As per the information above, the 2021 local government election results yielded a hung municipality. This means that no political party obtained more than 50(+1)% of the votes. For a party to govern the municipal council, it requires a minimum of 136 seats. The highest-ranked party (ANC) received 91 seats (45 seats short to govern). As a result, the municipality has to be governed via a coalition of more than 1 party. The key here, is that in order to form a coalition to govern the municipality, the parties to the coalition must have a collective number of seats equivalent to 136 or more.
The following are key positions within the municipal council, the councillors assigned to each position, and their party affiliations. The list includes the Mayor, the Mayoral Committee. These positions from the executive arm of council. The Speaker position is also included as the head pf the legislative arm of council. This information is significant as it gives insights into the outcomes of the secret coalition agreements between the coalition partners. As you will see, parties to a coalition have agreed on the allocation of key positions within the municipal council as part of the agreement. Interestingly, the Mayor and Speaker (the most senior positions) are occupied by minority parties.
AIC
ANC
ANC
PA
ANC
PA
ANC
EFF
ATM
ANC
EFF
This section depicts the Mayors that have been in office in the current electoral cycle (since the November 2021 local government elections). The municipality has had 4 different mayors since November 2021. While the figures depict 5 mayoral changes, there were actually 4 different mayors as Dr Mpho Phalatse had two stints at the mayoral position. Phalatse’s first removal was considered unconstitutional, and thereby reversing the mayorship of Mr Dada Morero.
The changes in mayorship has been as a resulted of the collapsing of coalition alliances due to disputes The Johannesburg municipality has experienced frequent changes in political leadership. This can make it difficult to implement long-term policies and strategies and can result in a lack of continuity in service delivery as has been experienced in the 2021/22 financial year and beyond.
| NO. | Mayor | Party | Start of Term | Votes for | Parties for Candidate | End of Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dr Mpho Phalatse | DA | 22-Nov-21 | 144 | ActionSA, DA, EFF | 30-Sep-22 |
| 2 | Dada Morero | ANC | 30-Sep-22 | Unopposed by the 145 councillors present | ANC, PA, UIM, Al Jama-ah, AIC, AHC, UDM, GOOD, COPE | 25-Oct-22 |
| 3 | Dr Mpho Phalatse | DA | 26-Oct-22 | 144 | DA, ActionSA, EFF | 26-Jan-23 |
| 4 | Thapelo Ismad | Al Jama-ah | 27-Jan-23 | 138 | ANC,EFF,COPE,PA, AJama-ah, ATM. | 24-Apr-23 |
| 5 | Kabelo Gwamanda | Al Jama-ah | 05-May-23 | 139 | ANC, EFF, PA, ATM | Current |
The Speaker is the head of the legislative arm of the municipal council and plays a leadership, coordination and management role in relation to council meetings. As evidenced in this section, the Speaker position has been also changed in conjunction to the collapse of the coalition governments.
| NO. | Speaker | Party | Start of Term | Votes for | Parties for Candidate | End of Term |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vasco da Gama | DA | 22-Nov-21 | 147 | DA, EFF, ActionSA, VF Plus, ACDP, UDM | 31-Aug-22 |
| 2 | Colleen Makhubele | COPE | 28-Sep-22 | 141 | ANC, EFF, PA, COPE, UDM, AIC | 13-Nov-22 |
| 3 | Margaret Arnold | AIC | 20-Nov-23 | Unopposed | ANC, EFF, PA, COPE, UDM, AIC | Current |