Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) councillor Nthabiseng Tshivhenga was elected as acting speaker of the Ekurhuleni metro following the ousting of Democratic Alliance (DA) councillor Raymond Dhlamini in a late-night council vote on Thursday.

Most councillors from the African National Congress (ANC), EFF and a minority of other political parties voted Dhlamini out. In total, 139 councillors supported Dhlamini's removal and 70 were against it.

This was the second time Dhlamini was voted out after the first attempt earlier in February.

The DA member challenged the first removal in the Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg, and the court agreed with his legal arguments that his removal had been unlawful.

Dhlamini's removal forms part of a broader coalition takeover mission by the ANC and the EFF in Gauteng's three metros. This was despite some party leaders denying that a coalition deal had been reached.

Last year, the EFF and the ANC had a fallout after some ANC councillors refused to vote for an EFF candidate to replace then-ousted Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell.

Campbell, a DA member, was quickly voted back into office with the support of the EFF as punishment to the ANC.

The rift between the ANC and the EFF seems to have waned, with the two parties, thanks to the support of minority parties, forming a collective government in Johannesburg, where each party holds a political position in the council.

The same pattern may emerge in Ekurhuleni as Tshivhenga was overwhelmingly elected with the support of the ANC.

Following his removal, Dhlamini said he accepted the vote because it was democracy in play. He said this time, processes were followed in his removal.

"We just have to accept and move on," he said.

Tshivhenga was jubilant, saying the people of the Ekurhuleni metro would finally have an "ear" that listens to them. She promised to be impartial in her role as speaker.

Tshwane speaker chaos

A similar fight about the speaker position is playing out in another Gauteng metro, Tshwane.

The DA and its coalition partners – the ACDP, ActionSA, Freedom Front-Plus and IFP – have threatened to take legal action against the speaker, Murunwa Makwarela.

Makwarela has yet to call for a special council sitting to elect a new mayor. The only available date was 28 February, which was the original date the council was set to reconvene.

But the coalition parties believed that date was too far and had to be brought forward. The group cited the urgent need to pass the adjustment budget.

The parties have threatened to approach the courts to force Makwarela to convene an urgent sitting. The coalition has already chosen Cilliers Brink as its preferred candidate as Tshwane mayor.

"The issue is the timing of the election of a new mayor in Tshwane, as well as the passing of the adjustment budget. The speaker has scheduled the meeting to elect the new mayor on 28 February, which will prevent the adjustment budget from being passed by the legislated deadline of the same day," said Corne Mulder, a spokesperson for the coalition. 

Mulder said not passing the budget on time would leave room for the provincial government to intervene in the Tshwane metro.