Mpho Phalatse Chairs First Council Meeting Since Being Reinstated As Mayor of JHB, Says It's Good to Be Back

• Johannesburg Executive Mayor Mpho Phalatse is happy to be back in office
• The mayor chaired her first council meeting since being reinstated after her dramatic ousting last month
• Phalatse says she's eager to get back to work and accelerate service delivery in the metro

BRAAMFONTEIN- Executive mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Mpho Phalatse, feels right at home being back at the helm of the metro.

The mayor said it felt good to be back in the office in a short statement at her first council meeting on Thursday, 27 October.

Phalatse was reinstated as the executive mayor of Johannesburg after the Gauteng High Court ruled that her ousting during a motion of no confidence last month was unlawful, SABC News reported.

The African National Congress's(ANC) Dada Morero, who briefly replace Phalatse, has subsequently stepped down following the ruling.

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The newly reinstated mayor said she hoped there would be stability in the metro from then on.

According to eNCA, now that Phalatse is back in office, the mayor is ready to hit the ground running. Phalatse said during the council meeting that she would brief the mayoral executive committee members about how they need to get back to work and accelerate service delivery.

First on Phalatse's agenda will be to address the water shortage in Johannesburg. The mayor directed the MMC to get to work to insure that residents in the city had consistent access to water.

South Africans react to Phalatse's statements

South Africans took to social media to comment on Phalatse's comments.

Here are some comments:

@ChairmanEN7 said:

"She's in that position for self-enrichment and her ego, otherwise it is not about the people and service delivery."

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ANC believes it can “legally” regain control of City of Joburg says it has numbers to oust Mayor Mpho Phalatse

Kgaugelo Mokwena commented:

"Welcome back, mayor. Joburg will be clean and safe again, I have hope for you"

Xolela Simo November claimed:

"She's a fighter, this one."

Titus Podile predicted:

"She will be voted out in a few days, this one."

Thokozani Ntonto Shezi added:

"For now... It's about to be messy. The battle has begun after her defeat Mashaba is waiting for her at his doorstep."

Opposition warns Phalatse not to get comfortable with mayoral reinstatement as political power plays persist

In a related story, Briefly News reported that Mpho Phalatse had been vindicated after the Gauteng High Court proved she was right for insisting she was still the mayor of Johannesburg.

The court ruled on Tuesday, 25 October, that the motion of no confidence that effectively ousted Phalatse on 30 September was unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.

Judge Raylene Keightley, who handed down the judgement, also found that the decision to elect Dada Morero, executive mayor of Johannesburg, was also unlawful, unconstitutional and invalid.

Source: Briefly News