Pressure mounts for Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda to resign

Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda is reportedly clinging to his position as discussions to elect a new mayor continue.

Gwamanda was elected in May 2023 following his fellow party member Thapelo Amad’s resignation. Gwamanda became the eighth City of Johannesburg mayor since the 2016 local government elections where many municipalities especially in Gauteng were hung.

WILL KABELO GWAMANDA RESIGN AS CITY OF JOHANNESBURG MAYOR?

In July, ActionSA placed three key conditions on its conditional support of a new government in the City of Johannesburg, first of which is the removal of Gwamanda.

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said the second condition is the immediate reversal of the R200 surcharge imposed by City Power on prepaid users.

“Thirdly, ActionSA will produce a series of motions, the purpose of which would be to position the City to turn around in critical frontline service delivery matters, including infrastructure renewal and the rejuvenation of the inner city,” he added.

In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks said no structure of the ANC has asked Gwamanda to resign at the time.

Hendricks said the meeting between Mashaba and ANC representatives to deliberate on the future of the metro was from Dada Morero’s faction, whom he accused of throwing his toys out the cot because he was not elected mayor of the City of Johannesburg.

ANC REPORTEDLY READY TO FIELD ITS CANDIDATE

In an interview with Radio 702, on Monday, 12 August, Kabelo Gwamanda said it is the prerogative of political parties to decide who remains or becomes the new mayor

Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks previously indicated that Gwamanda will remain the city’s first citizen until at least 25 December 2024, even though his term ought to end in 2026.

During the interview, Gwamanda said whether he or his party or a different political party has a different view, it is not a prevailing view in the absence of a collective decision.

On whether or not he believes he is the right person to lead the metro municipality Gwamanda said the response should be looked at from a retrospective view.

He emphasised the fact that when he was nominated, he had no ambition to become a mayor, a member of a mayoral committee (MMC) nor an oversight committee chairperson

“My only desire at the time was that we put in place a government and administration that would look into the issues that were a big challenge in the City of Johannesburg. In particular, stabilising the administrative wing,” he said.

“In terms of who is the right candidate to lead the city, that is the prerogative of the political parties elected to form part of the City of Johannesburg council. It is not for me to either disagree or agree in any level but for the collective to take a decision and we move forward,” he added.

According to the Mail and Guardian, ANC’s Dada Morero who replaced the Democratic Alliance’s Mpho Phalatse as mayor in 2022 will replace Gwamanda.