Cyril Xaba had been elected unopposed as the mayor of the eThekwini Municipality. Xaba was nominated by deputy mayor and NFP councillor Zandile Myeni and the nomination was seconded by the ANC.
ActionSA tried to nominate DA councillor Thabani Mthethwa to contest, but Mthethwa declined on account that he had not been consulted. It took more than an hour for Xaba to finally be elected.
Xaba was sworn in as a councillor a few weeks ago and appointed to the executive. He replaces Mxolisi Kaunda who was redeployed by the ANC to the National Council of Provinces.
Xaba inherits a deeply troubled municipality which has struggled to deliver services.
Experts have been brought in to assist the municipality and they started working earlier this month to identify problems and help turn the municipality around.
In a statement, the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal said it welcomes the unopposed election of the new mayor.
"We salute political parties for their collective display of commitment towards the creation of an efficient city.
"We have no doubt that his election will usher in a new era of accelerated service delivery for the benefit of residents and the business community in all corners of the City.
“As we pointed out weeks ago, the people of eThekwini have a right to shape their socio-economic development trajectory. And more importantly, as voters, it is within your right to determine the pace of service delivery," it said.
Xaba is the right leader who will lead the reconfiguration of the City to ensure that it responds to the needs of residents and business at large, it said.
"Over the years, Mayor Cyril Xaba displayed exceptional administration skills and a deep understanding of policy formulation and implementation.
“It is for these reasons that in 2009 he was entrusted with the responsibility of being the head of secretariat of the first Planning Commission in any province in South Africa."
Apart from chairing the portfolio Ccommittee on defence, Xaba is also the former MEC for agriculture and Rrural development.
Armed with this experience, said the statement, Mayor Cyril Xaba will strengthen good and clean governance. He will ensure a strong focus on caring and responsive service delivery for the benefit of residents.
Xaba understands that all political parties in the City represent the aspirations of the people.
He will therefore ensure the co-operation of all political parties to ensure the reconfiguration of the municipal committees.
This will strengthen the oversight role over the City's administration to usher in efficiency and speed in service, said the ANC statement.
Meanwhile, EFF leader Themba Mvubu spoke to “The Mercury” about the fact that the EFF is not part of the GNU.
THE MERCURY