Kgosientso “Sputla” Ramokgopa was elected mayor of Tshwane on Tuesday over Democratic Alliance candidate Gerhardus Pretorius by 92 votes to 49 votes.
The Mail and Guardian had established in July that outgoing mayor Gwen Ramokgoba’s nephew was tipped to take the position.
A committee member that wanted to remain anonymous said, “These are the rewards of supporting Mashatile. It is a done deal: Sputla will be the next mayor.”
The announcement was met with singing, cheering and dance from fellow ANC councillors in the municipal chambers on Tuesday.
At the entrance to the hall were about a hundred other supporters who also broke into song and dance as soon as they heard Ramokgopa had been elected.
In his acceptance speech to councillors, Ramokgopa said the city’s billing system needed to be urgently addressed.
Ramokgopa wanted to see to it that street lights were fixed, adding that road maintenance would be one of his priorities.
Municipal policing also needed to be drastically improved and corrupt elements eliminated.
“Those few officers who are guilty of that scourge will be dealt with in no uncertain terms,” he said
Ramokgopa indicated that the issue around suspended municipal manager Kiba Kekana needed to be resolved as soon as possible.