Johannesburg MMC for environment and infrastructure services Mpho Moerane has been elected the new mayor of the city – in a move that has raised eyebrows.
South Africa goes to the polls next month on 1 November to elect new local government officials – meaning that Moerane will only be mayor for 30 days if his African National Congress (ANC) fails to return a majority.
Moerane was elected unopposed on Friday to replace the late Jolidee Matongo who died in a car crash last month.
A month earlier, Matongo had replaced the late Johannesburg Mayor Geoff Makhubo, who succumbed to Covid-19.
The new mayor, Moerane, was one of the three nominees when Matongo was elected to the somewhat jinxed job.
Opposition parties warned the election of a new mayor was possibly an ANC ploy to access the city’s piggy bank to fund the elections.
However, Gauteng Premier David Makhura earlier said that a new mayor was urgently needed to attend to service delivery issues in the City of Johannesburg.