The African Independent Congress councillor, Margaret Arnolds, has been elected as the new City of Joburg speaker. Arnolds succeeded Colleen Makhubele during an extraordinary council meeting today. She has served the executive as an MMC community development and leads the minority parties bloc. 

Makhubele was removed as speaker after her membership was terminated by her party, Congress of the People (COPE) following her allegedly signing of the party into a coalition with the South African Rainbow Alliance (SARA) without the party's approval. It has since been revealed that Makhubele is the President of SARA. COPE's secretary general Eric Mohlapamaswi, said that Makhubele broke their party's code of conduct. "A councillor in the Johannesburg municipality has her name on the posters. As such, she has terminated her own membership. Correspondents are on their way to the former comrades because we have formally terminated their membership ever since they joined SARA. 

Arnolds accepted her nomination from the floor when she was announced by city manager Floyd Brink, as the speaker unopposed. The coalition agreement formed earlier this year between the EFF, ANC, Patriotic Alliance and more than five minority parties states that the smaller parties will hold the positions of speaker, mayor and chairpersons of committees. In her acceptance speech, Arnolds said she was humbled by her election and thanked the over 150 councillors who vouched for her. "Councillors of the City of Joburg, I thank you for entrusting me with this position," she said. She added that as the speaker of the council, she is responsible for safeguarding the independence of the council maintaining the authority thereof and ensuring that the standing orders of the council are observed. "It is indeed possible to achieve such by working together with all 217 councillors, political party leaders and whips. It is incumbent on all of us to ensure that the decorum of the council is maintained collectively, not only by one or two. This is a platform we use to express the views of our constituencies and the general residents of the City of Johannesburg. This is a space where we share ideas of how to best service our residents, therefore, we need to protect and use this space fruitfully to the benefit of our residents," concluded Arnolds.