The Independent Democrats have failed in their bid to topple the Democratic Alliance-led coalition in the Cape Town unicity, South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) news reported on Thursday.
The ID, with the backing of the African National Congress, moved to scrap the mayoral executive-committee system in favour of proportional representation on an executive-committee system.
However, the coalition of mayor Helen Zille held and the motion was defeated by 105 votes to 103.
Zille says she expected further attacks from the ANC and the ID, but her multiparty executive committee was strong enough to deal with them.
According to the SABC, in an eleventh-hour decision, the ANC at national and provincial levels decided to vote with the ID.
The ANC’s provincial leadership informed their councillors in the Cape Town City Council of this decision just before the motion was expected to be heard.
The motion was meant to scrap the mayoral committee-system and render Zille powerless. — Sapa