Herman Mashaba of the liberal centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA) takes over from incumbent mayor and African National Congress (ANC) candidate Parks Tau, just days after the ruling party was also booted from power in the capital Pretoria.

"The mayoral results is as follows: 125 for Parks Tau and 144 for Herman Mashaba," announced city council speaker Vasco da Gama, as DA councillors lifted their candidate onto their shoulders in celebration.

Johannesburg, the country's largest city and its economic nerve centre, is the third big metropolitan the ANC has lost following municipal elections this month.

The party of Nelson Mandela emerged as the largest party in the city after the August 3 vote but failed to secure an outright majority, taking 44.5 percent compared to the DA's 38.37.

With 11 percent of the vote, the radical leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) found itself in the powerful position of kingmaker and vowed not to give any of its council votes to the ANC.

Mashaba's election came after a marathon 11-hour sitting at Johannesburg city hall, where ANC councillor Nonhlanhla Mthembu collapsed and later died, delaying proceedings into the late evening.

Mashaba paid tribute to 50-year-old Mthembu before vowing to "bring change" to the city.

"People today with no toilets are expected to live in a city regarded as a world class city," he said.

"This is not fair, this is not what South Africa should be. Let's get this city working again so we can give our people dignity."

- Rags-to-riches -

A successful businessman and millionaire whose rags-to-riches story is well known, the 56-year-old Mashaba is widely seen as a political rookie.

Born to a domestic worker mother, he is a university undergraduate drop-out whose beauty product business became a household brand in South Africa.

Mashaba campaigned on a platform of job creation and clean governance, declaring corruption "public enemy number one".

"I will work with my team to investigate to ensure all the tenders given prior to us coming into office were given properly and fairly and openly," he told local television channel ENCA after his election.

"Tenders in our administration, when we award them, it will be an open system."

Outgoing mayor Parks Tau said on Sunday he was ready to serve the city "in any capacity".

Nationally, the ANC suffered its worst result in 22 years in the municipal vote, garnering less than 54 percent of ballots cast -- an eight percentage point drop from the last local poll in 2011.

The municipal elections were largely seen as a referendum on President Jacob Zuma, whose rule of Africa's most advanced economy has been dogged by scandal.

Of the country's six most populSpeaking aboard an aircraft carrier anchored off the Italian island of Ventotene, one of the cradles of the dream of a united and integrated Europe, the leaders vowed to strengthen the European project following the Brexit vote.

"Many thought the EU was finished after Brexit but that is not how it is," Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said.

Calling out the continent's eurosceptics, he said it was "easy to complain and find scapegoats."

The EU "is the answer" to Europe's problems, for it cemented "peace, prosperity and freedom," he said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel recalled that the EU had been born from some of the "darkest moments" of European history, a reference to World War II.

Echoing Renzi, she said the time had come to "write a better page" in European history.

French President Francois Hollande warned that Europe was faced with a risk of "fragmentation and division."

It needed a "new impulse" on three fronts, Hollande said: the economy; defence and security; and ensuring jobs and education opportunities for young people.

The three leaders were speaking ahead of a working dinner aboard the Italian aircraft carrier Giuseppi Garibaldi as the sun set over the Naples coast.

- Road map -

In a symbolic move, the Italian PM earlier took his guests to the grave of Altiero Spinelli, a founding father of the ideal of European integration.

Renzi called the meeting in a bid to forge a common position on the EU's future ahead of a summit of the 27 remaining states in Bratislava on September 16.

Europe's economic outlook, jihadist attacks, the refugee and migrant drama, the Syrian conflict, and relations with Russia and Turkey were also expected to be covered.

The Brexit vote has raised fears of similar referendums in other countries, particularly the Netherlands, which opposes changes to the EU to achieve closer integration.

But coming up with a road map acceptable to all will not be easy.

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia vowed after Britain's vote to draw up their own plans for a less centralised EU.

The Ventotene trip was the start of an intensive tour for Merkel as she attempts to coordinate a response to one of the EU's biggest crises in decades and quell fears Berlin wants to monopolise the debate.

- Cooperation, flexibility -

Renzi, who is campaigning for greater flexibility on EU deficit rules to help his flagging economy, said "we need strong measures to relaunch growth and fight youth unemployment".

In a show of support, Merkel praised Renzi's "Jobs Act" reform and said the Stability Pact "has quite a lot of flexibility that we can use in a clever way".

Creating jobs "means creating conditions for private investment to have a chance", she said.

Hollande called for an EU investment fund for infrastructure, education, research and innovation to be beefed up.

All three leaders have been hit in the polls by varying toxic combinations of refugee crisis, economic slump and terror attacks, with eurosceptic or populist parties gaining ground.

Their room for manoeuvre is restricted. Next year will see a general election in Germany and presidential and legislative elections in France.

After a series of deadly attacks by the Islamic State group, the three leaders were also expected to explore greater co-operation on counter-terrorism and an integrated European security and defence policy -- a cherished objective that some analysts say could be easier to achieve after sceptical Britain departs.

"In light of Islamic terrorism and the civil war in Syria, we have to do more to ensure our security. We should increase cooperation on matters of defence and the sharing of intelligence," Merkel said.ous cities, the ANC won an outright majority in only one: Durban, Zuma's traditional stronghold.

Last week, the symbolically-named coastal municipality of Nelson Mandela Bay also went to the DA when its candidate Athol Trollip was elected mayor.

The DA now runs four major cities, including tourism hub and legislative capital Cape Town.