Despite an instruction from its provincial structure to withdraw its motion of no confidence against Ekurhuleni Mayor Tania Campbell, the Ekurhuleni African National Congress (ANC) caucus says it is moving forward.

On Thursday, the programming committee confirmed that a vote of no confidence against Campbell would take place during the next council meeting, which will be held on the 26 October.

The ANC – which holds 86 seats in the council – needs 113 votes for its motion to pass.

ANC Ekurhuleni Chief Whip Jongizizwe Dlabathi said that he had not received a formal request from the Gauteng ANC to withdraw the party’s motion of no confidence against Campbell.

Insiders within the provincial ANC feel that the Ekurhuleni caucus moved too quickly in submitting the motion as the party had not concluded its talks with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

The EFF – with their 31 seats in the council – can decide whether the motion passes or not.

So far, the EFF has publicly stated they will be abstaining from the vote, however, Dlabathi is confident in the motion passing.

“The faith of our motion does not depend on the EFF. We are submitting a motion expressing the issues and let’s leave it to the council.”

Dlabathi said that their motion against Campbell was not politically motivated and had more to do with substantive issues of governance, like the administration’s poor service delivery record, unpopular budget and slow appointments of MMCs.