140 councillors voted for the motion to remove Phalatse as mayor, while 129 voted to keep her in the position. In the 270-seat council 136 votes were needed for the motion to succeed.
Phalatse referred questions to the party’s communication department. “Unfortunately those negotiations did not bear fruit and there are a lot of feelings and emotions about what actually happened and who is to blame. I can not comment further on that. As per the DA, there are designated spokespersons who can speak about what happened at that time and those people are John Steenhuizen, Solly Msimanga, Solly Malatsi and Cilliers Brink.
The African Transformation Movement, African Independent Congress and Al-Jamah-Ah party tabled the motion. Phalatse says there are squabbles in the multi-party government. “I’m appreciative of every kind word that was said to me. Unfortunately, we did try as the Democratic Alliance to bring in the Patriotic Alliance to stabilise our government. We have been in the minority since we started collapsing in September. That did not bear fruit. There are a lot of feelings about what happened and who is to blame.