Former mayor Eugene Johnson is the new speaker of the Nelson Mandela Bay council.
Johnson, an ANC councillor, secured 62 of the votes through a secret ballot.
She went up against DA councillor Rano Kayser who managed to secure 51 votes.
Six of the ballots were spoilt.
Earlier, Retief Odendaal was ousted as mayor as 62 councillors voted for his removal.
His deputy, Khusta Jack, and council chief whip Bill Harington are due to face similar motions of no confidence at the meeting.
After Odendaal was removed as mayor he was nominated to contest his former position.
He will go up against Northern Alliance councillor Gary van Niekerk who resigned as speaker shortly after he was nominated to contest the mayoral position.
The vote did not start without issues as councillors debated at length about where a ballot box should be placed and whether it should be done by a show of hands.
It was eventually agreed that voting would be done with a ballot box.