As was the case in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni, the West Rand District Municipality now also has a new mayor from a party that only has one seat in the council, thanks to the African National Congress/Economic Freedom Fighters alliance. 

Thabiso Bovungana, of the African Independent Congress (AIC), which has one seat in the municipality, was elected as the mayor on Tuesday, defeating the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) candidate, Hullet Hild.

Bovungana received 29 votes, compared to Hild's 19, from the 42 councillors present in the 44-seat municipality. 

The council also elected a new whip - the ANC's Brenda Mahuma - who, like Bovungana, received 29 votes from the 42 councillors present.

Last week, Hild and Alme Swart, also from the DA, who was the chief whip, were removed via a motion of no confidence. 

Bovungana's election comes two weeks after the same ANC/EFF partnership nominated the AIC's Sivuyile Ngodwana for mayor in Ekurhuleni. 

In his acceptance speech, Bovungana thanked the alliance, and vowed to consult extensively with them before announcing his mayoral committee. 

The new mayor said, "There is no 'I' in this partnership, we work as a collective, and I will engage all of our partners before outlining our priorities and announcing the mayoral committee."

He committed to announcing the mayoral committee before the end of the week.

Bovungana said the team needed to work with speed to ensure that service delivery challenges were addressed. 

If what happened in Ekurhuleni is anything to go by, Bovungana, like Ngodwana, is set to announce a mayoral committee made up ANC and EFF members.

Speaking to News24, Bovungana was reluctant to comment on the ANC/EFF alliance, and maintained that his experience in politics and love for people were what drove him to accept this challenge. 

"I promise to work for our community, which is facing severe service delivery challenges, and focus on nothing else. The trust placed in me is not misplaced," said Bovungana.