City of Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba has announced that one member of his mayoral committee has been fired with immediate effect on Tuesday.

Anthony Still will be replaced by Nico De Jager as MMC for environmental and infrastructure services.

Still clashed with Mashaba over the mayor’s decision to launch an investigation into City Power, a decision the Joburg mayor said he had made after receiving serious allegations about the tender process at the organisation which lights up millions of homes in the city.

The mayor ordered an investigation into multi-billion rand tenders awarded by City Power.

Mashaba confirmed that Still’s decision was related to the City Power inquiry.

"I have sat down with MMC Still and discussed the matter extensively. Unfortunately, we held a difference of opinion on the approach to tackling matters of investigations into alleged fraud and corruption within City Power," Mashaba said in a statement on Tuesday.

Power struggle

The African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg had earlier lashed out at the mayor on Monday, warning that Still would be fired due to the disagreement.

The ANC’s Greater Johannesburg spokesperson, Jolidee Matongo, said Still had seen the investigation into City Power managing director Sicelo Xulu as wasteful expenditure.

Its warning came days after it claimed that Mashaba was putting pressure on Joburg Metro boards to fire senior managers who had been employed by the ANC administration.

The party lost control of the metro following the 2016 municipal elections, when it failed to win an outright majority to continue running the City of Joburg.

The ANC also alleged that Still had butted heads with Mashaba over the post of managing director at refuse collector Pikitup, claiming Still had refused to appoint Mashaba’s preferred candidate Lungelo Dlamini.

"The MMC has clearly been identified as a stumbling block because he does not blindly do what Mashaba orders him to do," said the ANC.

It also appealed to Democratic Alliance councillors to resist, what it termed, "Mashaba’s Trump-like tendencies".

The damage caused by Mashaba would take longer to correct if he was not stopped in his tracks, the ANC said.