South Africa’s ousted Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse will run again for the third time as mayor, the main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) vowed on Friday.The mayor, who was removed from office on Thursday for the second time after she narrowly lost a no-confidence motion vote, would resubmit her candidacy when the contest is scheduled for the position of mayor, DA national spokesperson Cilliers Brink said. 

Her ousting had nothing to do with her work performance but was another attempt by the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to try to regain control of the city, Brink said. 

“What is next for us? Well, we are going to put up Dr Mpho Phalatse once again as the candidate for the mayor of Johannesburg,” he said.

The ANC’s Gauteng province has welcomed Phalatse’s removal, alleging that Johannesburg has experienced unprecedented instability in governance under her leadership. 

“The maladministration and poor governance that is being experienced in Johannesburg is being experienced in the Cities of Pretoria and Ekurhuleni, where instability is the order of the day. This is how the DA governs – not the false image it has presented to the world,” an ANC official said.

He described the removal of Phalatse as the “beginning of the re-strengthening of the City of Johannesburg and Gauteng province broadly.”