‘I feel betrayed’: Ousted Ekurhuleni mayor Ngodwana on no-confidence motion

JOHANNESBURG – African Independent Congress (AIC) councillor in Ekurhuleni, Sivuyile Ngodwana, says he feels betrayed by the African National Congress (ANC) and minority parties, who he says colluded to remove him from the mayoral office.

Exactly a year since he was elected to the position, Ngodwana was ousted through an ActionSA-sponsored motion of no confidence on Thursday.

He told journalists moments after he was ousted that he expected coalition partners, including the ANC and minority parties, to support him.

“I feel betrayed, more especially by the super 7 [minority parties], because we were a team and voting bloc in council. But I saw them today supporting a motion that came up from the opposition, ActionSA.”

Ngodwana was accused of allowing financial misconduct to thrive and neglecting service delivery in the municipality.

He, however, told Eyewitness News that he was making progress in improving service delivery.

“We had a plan. We started to work very hard to clean our townships and more especially Kempton Park, there was a stench all over. There was no waste collection, there was illegal dumping everywhere. We were working very hard to clean our township.”

Ekurhuleni residents, who raised concerns about poor service delivery, will have to wait seven days for a new mayor to be elected.