ANC to push for new vote in Pretoria

The ANC will call for a new election in the nation’s capital, Pretoria, and introduce a motion of no confidence in the city’s mayor, who is a member of the opposition Democratic Alliance.

The motion against Solly Msimanga will add to earlier attempts to remove the DA mayors of Johannesburg, the economic hub, and the coastal city of Port Elizabeth. The ANC lost control of these three major cities to the opposition in 2016 municipal elections in which its support fell to the lowest since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.

“Parties in the respective councils have spent more time discussing motions of no confidence rather than serving our people,” the ANC in Gauteng province said in an emailed statement. “The final resolution that will restore order and sanity in all these municipalities is to have a fresh mandate so that the ANC can have a clear mandate.”

The DA’s Jonathan Lawack was removed as speaker of the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, which includes Port Elizabeth, through a motion of no confidence on Monday, Cape Town-based News24 reported, citing city manager Johann Mettler.

The ANC will introduce the motion against Msimanga on Thursday and will nominate its regional chairman, Kgosi Maepa, to replace him.

“We are confident that should we go for elections the ANC will emerge victorious,” the party said.