Minutes before Council was set to cast their vote for their new mayor, an unnamed ANC councillor collapsed and died.
It is suspected the cause her of death is a heart attack. Councillors from various parties passed their messages of condolences to the ANC for the councillor who was about to serve her third term.
Both ANC mayoral candidate Parks Tau and his DA rival, Herman Mashaba, have been nominated for the position of mayor, and voting will continue this evening.
Proceedings at the Johannesburg Council for the election of a new mayor has dragged on for eight hours, two of which were spent electing a new speaker.
The DA’s Vasco da Gama emerged victorious against the ANC’s Constance Bapela for the seat of Speaker of Council.
After the announcement, there was a lunch break for more than two hours. At about 5 pm, the sitting resumed amid cheerful EFF, DA and ANC members seemingly invigorated by the much needed break.
Council is yet to vote for their new mayor or release the name of the deceased.