Nkosindiphile Xhakaza appointed new Ekurhuleni mayor

Ekurhuleni

Cape Town — The African National Congress’ (ANC) Nkosindiphile Xhakaza been elected as the new mayor of Ekurhuleni after the municipality went two weeks without a mayor.

The council meeting started after a three-hour delay due to parties being locked in intense negotations but ultimately, Xhakaza was elected unopposed and follows Sivuyile Ngodwana who was ousted from office two week ago after several votes of no confidence against him.

According to TimesLIVE, the “super seven” minority parties insisted on the new mayor being from the ANC, a change from the initial Gauteng takeover deal between the ANC, EFF and minorities.

The original idea was to have a mayor and speaker elected from a smaller party, while the two big parites configuted the mayoral committee seats betqwween them, however Xhakaza now holds the first seat.

He is expected to stabilise the embattled coalition, having faced tensions in the past in the embattled ANC/EFF partnership in the council.

According to The Citizen, Xhakaza’s return to the mayor’s office marks the first time an ANC member has held the position since Mzwandile Masina’s term ended in 2021.

Xhakaza was defeated by Masina at the Ekurhuleni ANC’s elective conference in 2022. He has served as a member of the municipality’s mayoral committee, serving as MMC for Corporate and Shared Services: Human Resources, Communications and Brand Management, Strategy, Risk, Legal and Internal Audit.

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Compiled by Matthew Petersen

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