South African Capital Is Placed Under Provincial Administration

(Bloomberg) --

South Africa's Tshwane municipality, which includes the capital, Pretoria, has been placed under administration by the provincial government to fill a leadership vacuum that's ensued after a protracted power struggle.

“The Tshwane municipal council is dissolved and an administrator will be appointed to run the municipality until a new council is elected within 90 days,” the Gauteng provincial government said in a statement. Its previous attempt to take control of the center was blocked by the courts after the main opposition Democratic Alliance objected on the grounds that proper processes weren't followed.

No party holds a clear majority in Tshwane. The DA wrested control of the municipality from the ruling African National Congress by entering into a loose alliance with the Economic Freedom Fighters after a 2016 local government vote, but their cooperation accord subsequently unraveled.

Stevens Mokgalapa, the DA mayor of Tshwane, quit last month after a leaked audio tape indicated that he allegedly disparaged officials in a conversation with a mayoral council member and engaged in a sexual act with her in the municipality's offices. The two denied being intimate and said the tape was tampered with. Several efforts to elect a new mayor have failed because no party could muster the required majority.

The loss of Tshwane is yet another blow for the DA, which shed support in national elections and lost control of Johannesburg, the economic hub, to the ANC last year.

Read more about how the opposition's implosion has given the ANC a free pass

To contact the reporter on this story: Mike Cohen in Cape Town at mcohen21@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Karl Maier

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