A shake-up in the composition of the executive of the City of Johannesburg is imminent as parties that are in the Government of Local Unity (GLU) agree that the current Mayor, Kabelo Gwamanda, is not living up to his responsibilities.
A source known by “The Star”, who is part of the GLU, told the publication that coalition partners share ActionSA’s position.
“It is inevitable that Gwamanda will be demoted to being an MMC when Dada takes over as a preferred ANC government. In fact, partners have the same sentiments with ActionSA about Gwamanda – that he is an absent mayor,” the source said.
The source continued to say that they couldn’t fight the decision of the ANC to remove Gwamanda as both parties had agreed that the position belonged to the ANC, but Al Jama-ah would occupy the mayoral position.
“We can’t fight it. It was an initial agreement at the formation of government. If ANC feels it’s time, then, yeah, as the GLU we have to support it.
“At the composition of this GLU government, Lesufi (Premier Panyaza Lesufi) made it clear that the mayor position should be afforded to the ANC and all partners agreed on that.
“So now when they want their seat from Al Jama-ah, there’s nothing we can do as partners because it’s theirs and whatever agreement they had with Al Jama-ah we are not a part of.”
One of the Mayor’s close confidants, who wanted to remain anonymous, told “The Star” today that there was no truth to the allegations that the mayoral position was that of the ANC, adding that Al Jama-ah did not agree on such a set-up.
“If that was the case, why would they negotiate with ActionSA behind Gwamanda’s back? They should have just approached him and reminded him. The ANC compromised because the EFF proposed minority mayors in both Ekurhuleni and Jozi,” Gwamanda’s confidante explained.
While conducting a series of interviews, Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks defended Gwamanda, saying he would not be removed from office.
Hendricks told reporters that Al Jama-ah was unhappy about the R200 surcharge, which was approved by Finance MMC Dada Morero, according to the party.
In a surprising turn of events, ActionSA announced that it would work with the ANC in Gauteng provided Gwamanda was removed.
This was despite the party vowing that it would never work with the ANC.
ActionSA holds a significant portion of seats in the three fragmented Gauteng metro councils.
The party said that this agreement was not a coalition agreement as it would not take up any seats in the executive but would remain a “constructive opposition”.
The support comes with a demand that it would “take up several positions in the legislature so that it held any new government to account”.
“Once we have concluded (with the formation of a new government in Johannesburg), we will move on to Ekurhuleni and Tshwane,” said ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba.
Currently, the City of Johannesburg was under the ANC, EFF, Patriotic Alliance (PA) and minority parties, under the leadership of Al Jama-ah’s Gwamanda.
Recently, the GLU has increasingly been at odds with itself, which has been exacerbated since the formation of the national GNU, which excludes some of the key GLU partners, including the EFF.
The cracks were visible in Johannesburg when the EFF opted not to vote with its coalition partners, particularly on the proposal of a R2.5 billion loan from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), spearheaded by the ANC, which caused some friction among coalition partners.
The Star
sipho.jack@inl.co.za