After losing a motion of no confidence on Wednesday, departing mayor Tania Campbell said she has no regrets on how she led the City of Ekurhuleni.
Of the 235 councillors, 93 were against the motion while 100 were in support.
The EFF refused to participate during the facilitation of the motion, as did a number of small political parties in council.
Campbell said some of the reasons tabled for her removal were superficial and invented.
"I am disappointed that the coalition of corruption succeeded in bringing an end to an era of good work," she said.
However, "we have an equally important role to play from the opposition benches".
The promises that she had made to the residents of Tembisa will be fulfilled, she said, as plans are already set in motion.
She said mass protests in Tembisa earlier this year were largely sponsored to bring disruption in the Metro to question her leadership.
The chairperson of the ANC in Ekurhuleni, Panyaza Lesufi, said the ANC in Gauteng welcomed the removal of the DA mayor through a motion of no confidence.
"The motion was a mechanism of rescuing the municipality from the maladministration of the DA-led multiparty government.
"Since coming into office in November 2022, the DA-led multiparty government has done nothing but reverse some of the most important work that it inherited.
"Services have deteriorated in the Metro, especially in the townships, as we have seen the uprising of the residents of Tembisa three months ago where two people lost their lives," he added.
EFF Council member Nkululeko Dunga explained the party's view, arguing that since the DA took over leadership of the Metro, service delivery, especially in the township, had reached a point of concern.
"We decided not to participate because the ANC and DA have the same flaws and their
leadership is not bringing changes for the people of Ekurhuleni."
He added that his political party is "not the kitchen girl or garden boy to the DA or the ANC's voting proxy".