Azra Hoosen | ah@radioislam.co.za
14 August 2024 | 09:00 CAT
2 min read

Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda has resigned from his position, ending his term as the youngest mayor of South Africa’s largest city. Gwamanda, who cited his efforts to stabilise the city financially and administratively, will remain a councillor.

His resignation, pending a final effective date, comes amid intense coalition negotiations. ANC’s Dada Morero, the party’s regional chairperson and finance MMC, is set to replace Gwamanda. Morero confirmed he is the ANC’s choice for the role and is expected to outline his plans once elected.

Speaking to Radio Islam, Tessa Dooms, Director of the Rivonia Circle, criticised the current administration, stating that evidence shows it has not advanced the City of Johannesburg. She noted that the city’s revenue and revenue collection have been persistently low. Earlier this year, the National Treasury reprimanded the city for underspending on infrastructure by over 40%.

Dooms questioned the mayor’s claims of stabilising city finances, suggesting it would be difficult to verify how this was achieved and how it would be accounted for.

She highlighted that the mayor is not solely responsible for the state of the city; there are 270 councillors and a coalition of parties supporting both the mayor and the mayoral committee.

“While the mayor has stepped down, which signals political consequences, there is a broader question about the leadership of the city and whether or not the council can come up with a leadership that is sensible but also accountable measures from council to its leadership to actually deliver on a turn-around strategy,” she said.

According to Tessa Dooms, there is a common assumption that only the ANC has the opportunity to form a coalition. However, she pointed out that the ANC has just 4 PR councillors and 91 ward councillors. Ideally, these 91 ward councillors would be elected as independents, free from party lines. Despite this, the ANC is the first party to announce that it will nominate Dada Morero as its mayoral candidate.

“I think it needs to explore all of the options to see if it can come up with a collaboration that can bring forth the best skills and the highest levels of accountability. It has a range of options to think about who the best people are for the job,” she said.

Dooms believes one of the biggest concerns in Johannesburg is the excessive politicisation of the city manager and other key management roles.

She suggested we need a city that is depoliticised, where the administration remains stable and operational regardless of political changes. It’s crucial that residents have a voice and receive answers. With about two years remaining in this term, a turnaround strategy of at least one year is necessary, and the agreements made to form these coalitions should be made public.

“One thing that concerned me about Gwamanda was that, in many ways, I think he was scapegoated by his collation, that bigger parties that had a lot more say put forward only had two seats to escape political accountability. It is these kinds of things that will cause further instability. Parties need to take responsibility for their own decisions,” she said.

LISTEN to the full interview with Ml Junaid Kharsany and Tessa Dooms, here.