Tshwane to be placed under administration
Gauteng Premier David Makhura announced on Thursday that the City of Tshwane will be placed under administration.
Makhura made the announcement at a joint media briefing with Cooperative Governance and Human Settlements MEC Lebogang Maile.
“Accordingly, the Gauteng executive council met on Wednesday afternoon, to assess the developments in the City of Tshwane, and decided to invoke section 139 (1)(c) of the Constitution,” Makhura said.
“This means that the Tshwane council is dissolved and an administrator will be appointed to run the municipality until a new council is elected within 90 days.”
#TshwaneCouncil Maile on a team of administrators that will be appointed.
— Jacaranda News (@JacaNews) March 5, 2020
"We are not going to appoint bodybuilders, we will appoint highly qualified people." pic.twitter.com/SaQtiXxNHn
Tshwane has been without a mayor since the resignation of Stevens Mokgalapa at the end of February.
A meeting to elect the new mayor collapsed last week after both the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the African National Congress (ANC) staged a walkout due to the presence of council speaker Katlego Mathebe.
Another council meeting, which was expected to sit on Thursday, was postponed due to “ongoing negotiations between political parties”, according to a media statement from the council’s chief whip Christo van den Heever.
Maile said a team of administrators will be appointed within the next seven days to run the municipality.