City of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba will hold a hurriedly arranged press conference tomorrow where he is expected to announce his resignation.

There is speculation that Mashaba will relinquish his position just hours after former DA leader Helen Zille was elected as the Federal Council (FedCo) chairperson on Sunday.

Mashaba said he would “address the media following the outcome of the DA’s federal council this weekend”. 

Ahead of the FedCo meeting, Mashaba had said that he would leave the DA if the party was taken over by what he terms right-wing elements.

His comments came at a time when Zille, who until recently worked at Institute for Race Relations, was seen as a frontrunner for the position.

“If the DA is taken over by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), I would not want to be associated with such an organisation,” said Mashaba on Radio 702 earlier this week.

Zille has defended IRR’s criticism of DA leader Mmusi Maimane for the party’s poor performance at the elections saying as a think tank they had every right to enter the party’s political space.

Mashaba has been praised for his work in the city with many on social media saying his resignation would be a significant loss.