DA Meet to Discuss Mpho Phalatse’s Dramatic Ousting As City of Johannesburg Mayor As Phalatse Blames Party

• The Democratic Alliance had a meeting to discuss how exactly it lost its hold on the City of Johannesburg
• From former Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse's perspective, the blame lies solely on the opposition party's shoulders
• ActionSA claimed the blue party fumbled the bag when they refused to negotiate with the Patriotic Alliance

JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance is picking up the pieces after Mpho Phalatse was dramatically ousted as the executive mayor of the metro.

The party hosted a meeting with its City of Johannesburg caucus to unpack how the DA lost hold of the metro on Friday, 27 January, through the successful motion of no confidence against Phalatse.

After she lost the mayoral position, Phalatse pointed to her party's failure to reach an agreement with the Patriotic Alliance to ensure that the DA-led coalition would continue to govern the metro.

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The DA's Gauteng Chairperson Fred Nel said there was concern about Phalatse placing the blame on the DA's shoulders but added that the former mayor had a right to say what she feels, EWN reported.

However, ActionSA's national chairperson Micheal Beaumont agrees with Phalatse that the DA fumbled the bag and handed the metro back to the ANC.

Beaumont claimed that the DA failed to realise that the PA were the kingmakers in Johannesburg, and the opposition party's refusal to meet the PA demands sealed the DA's fate.

SowetanLIVE reported that the main opposition party claimed the PA's demands for two mayoral committee positions in exchange for a vote in favour of Phalatse were unreasonable.

South Africans react to the DA's meeting about losing Johannesburg

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South Africans weighed in on the DA's discussion on social media and are surprised it took this long for the party to meet.

Below are some reactions:

@Geckocrater reprimanded:

"Sort yourselves out. SA can’t afford you “dropping the ball” anymore."

@AbbasM786786 demanded:

"Get rid of Steenhuisen."

@BabalwaPr speculated:

"A circus indeed. The word of CIC Helen is final, this stupid meeting is for rubber-stamping the decision of Helen and her IRR choirgirls."

@AbbasM786786 claimed:

"Cape Town mayor, @geordinhl, would be a much better leader of the DA than Steenhuisen."

@Josphat90396139 asked:

"Didn't they meet before?"

@KhutsoRapudi commented:

"It’s sinking in. The arrogance."

Mpho Phalatse plans to boot DA leader John Steenhuisen out of party’s federal leadership position

In a related story, Briefly News reported that the former mayor of Joburg, Mpho Phalatse, has her sights set on the Democratic Alliance's top job.

Only three days after she was booted from the mayoral position for the second time, Phalatse announced her plan to contest for the position of federal leader on Monday, 30 January.

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PA leader Gayton McKenzie explains why he ditched the DA-led coalition in the city of Joburg

John Steenhuisen is currently the DA's leader, but Phalatse believes that her experience at the helm of the City of Johannesburg will give her the upper hand when leading the opposition party, Power 98.7 reported.

Source: Briefly News