South African opposition politician Thapelo Amad resigned as mayor of Johannesburg less than three months after he was elected to the role with the backing of members of the African National Congress seeking to regain influence over South Africa’s richest city.
(Bloomberg) — South African opposition politician Thapelo Amad resigned as mayor of Johannesburg less than three months after he was elected to the role with the backing of members of the African National Congress seeking to regain influence over South Africa’s richest city.
Amad, a member of the Al Jama-ah party, which has just 1% of the seats in Johannesburg’s council, was elected to the post on Jan. 27 over the Democratic Alliance’s Mpho Phalatse, who was ousted in a vote of no-confidence.
Amad quit a day before he was due to face a vote of no-confidence, opposition party ActionSA said in an emailed statement.
While the ANC holds the most seats in the Johannesburg council, it lost its outright majority in the 2016 municipal vote. Johannesburg and other major urban centers have switched hands several times since as coalitions between political parties in South Africa proved to be shaky.
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