Johannesburg - City of Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda has responded to the civil society groups calling for his head, saying they target him because he is a black child and blame him for old infrastructure that should been changed before his tenure.
This is after the Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) made up of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) Defend Our Democracy, Action for Accountability (A4A), Johannesburg Inner-City and Rivonia Circle intensified their efforts to get Gwamanda removed from the position.
They claim that Gwamanda is less skilled, does not deliver services to the residents and has done nothing to improve the city since he was put as mayor.
“They are showing their true colours. It has been a while in South Africa since a black child has been attacked on this level on baseless points based on sending a message to any young black person who is black and previously disadvantaged to steer clear from roles that are reserved for their desired people,” Gwamanda said.
He spoke to the media on the sidelines of the city’s council meeting that was held in Braamfontein, Johannesburg on Thursday.
The agenda of the meeting was to vote to approve the R2.5 billion loan that the city has secured from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
The loan is to alleviate service delivery struggles across the city.
Be that it may, Gwamanda said it was unfortunate that they mentioned everything in their book but they could not pin corruption on him.
“Corruption has never been part of my administration. We have served the city, we have served under good governance and ensured that the historical challenges of the city are being responded to,” he added.
The mayor said he was being blamed for 55 years old infrastructure that should have been changed 10 years ago, while he was deploying strategies on how to respond to the challenges.
Gwamanda said he was going to ensure that the city is well served.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
IOL Politics