Will the City of Ekurhuleni have a deputy mayor?

ActionSA National Chairperson, Michael Beaumont. Picture: Nigel Sibanda ActionSA has confirmed that it is in full support of the creation of a deputy mayor position in the City of Ekurhuleni. This comes after the ANC last week revealed that the party had submitted a motion to have a report into the creation of a deputy mayor position debated in council.

However, the motion was removed without any explanation. ActionSA chairperson Michael Beaumont toldThe Citizenthat his party has always been in support of the creation of deputy mayor positions in Gauteng municipalities. “ActionSA has supported the establishment of deputy mayor positions in all metros in Gauteng.

“We support this principle to deepen power-sharing arrangements in the era of coalitions. This principle extends beyond any particular coalition that may be governing now, to those that may emerge in the future,” said Beaumont. Beaumont believes that the creation of the deputy mayor position could stabilise coalition politics and contribute to service delivery.

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“In local government, the Deputy Mayor has to be one of the MMCs, so it is not an extra position but rather an extra responsibility. “The same people who clap for the largest cabinet in South Africa’s history under this government of national unity (GNU) really have no basis to express concern around the idea of an MMC taking on increased responsibilities in the name of stability and service delivery,” he said. Beaumont did not explain why his party had retracted the motion they had prepared on this matter. But last week, the ANC’s regional secretary, Jongizizwe Dlabathi, accused ActionSA of being threatened by the EFF about taking positions under the current mayor of Ekurhuleni, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza.

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