Mayor of South Africa’s Capital Ousted as Coalition Collapses

(Bloomberg) -- The mayor of South Africa’s capital was ousted on Thursday after a multiparty coalition that ruled the city collapsed.

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Cilliers Brink, a member of the Democratic Alliance who has led the Tshwane municipality since March 2023, was removed through a motion of no confidence. It was backed by the African National Congress, the Economic Freedom Fighters and ActionSA, which collectively hold more than half the seats in the municipal council. A new mayor has yet to be named.

The ANC lost outright control of Tshwane in 2016 and the mayoral chain has changed hands five times since then. The municipality, which includes the capital Pretoria, has been dogged by breakdowns in the provision of basic services and a deadly cholera outbreak.

DA leader John Steenhuisen conceded earlier this year that his party hadn’t done an optimal job in Tshwane, having had to replace its own tainted mayors at least three times.

The ANC and DA entered into a coalition along with eight other parties to run the country on a national level in June and are part of a multiparty administration in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province. But the two haven’t found common ground in the central Gauteng province, which includes Pretoria and Johannesburg — which has also been plagued by political instability.

South Africa’s next municipal vote will be held in 2026.

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