The candidate of South Africa’s main opposition party was elected mayor of Johannesburg, ending the ruling African National Congress’s control of the nation’s economic hub as well as the capital, Pretoria, after its worst electoral performance since the end of apartheid.
Herman Mashaba, a 56-year-old cosmetics entrepreneur, was elected as Johannesburg’s mayor on Monday during a often-raucous 11-hour session during which an ANC councilor collapsed and died. His victory, secured with the support of South Africa’s third-biggest opposition party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, means Democratic Alliance mayors run Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, the nation’s second-biggest city, and Nelson Mandela Bay.
