Fortune may be pointing towards Finance MMC, Dada Morero, as the ANC Joburg secretary, Sasabona Manganye, hinted that he would be elected mayor come Friday, replacing Kabelo Gwamanda.
Manganye told Newzroom Afrika on Saturday that the call to oust Gwamanda had been finalised following a caucus meeting that took place with President Cyril Ramaphosa, the ANC and Al Jama-ah delegates.
“The ANC has engaged with Al Jama-ah officially, in fact, the president was part of that meeting. In that meeting, we agreed that when the ANC is ready, we will advise the executive mayor to resign so that the council can convene to elect the new mayor.
“The African National Congress is concluding discussions. In 2022, we had Dada Morero as a mayoral candidate, but his election was challenged in court, and unfortunately, we lost that case. That background should give you a clue of the direction we are going to take,” said Manganye.
Manganye stated that the ANC always wanted the mayor-apparent to come from their ranks, as they not only created government policies, but are heading close to 80 local wards in the city.
“The ANC has always wanted to have a mayor from the ANC in all municipalities, because it created policies. It makes sense for the ANC to take over, because we are responsible for about 80 local wards in the city, so we must take the lead,” he said.
Since the city is governed by the Government of Local Unity, the ANC has been in engagements with the IFP, VF Plus and ActionSA, and by far, “the discussions we are having are conducive enough that parties are comfortable with the ANC taking over the mayorship,” said Manganye.
He said that party engagements were influenced by the Government of National Unity, adding Al Jama-ah had always known the ANC would eventually retain the mayor’s office, after Morero was shortly removed from office in 2022 following litigation.
“We have engaged with IFP, ActionSA and FF Plus, since we are in a Government of Local Unity. These engagements were influenced by the Statement of Intent of the Government of National Unity. Al Jama-ah has never had issues, they have always known the ANC should take charge of the City of Johannesburg,” said Manganye.
Earlier last week, The Star reported the mayor would only resign on condition he was made deputy mayor, noting he led a clean local government, said Al Jama-ah leader, Ganief Hendricks.
Mangayane explained the DA had not come forward to engage with the ANC, adhering to the GLU mandate. Instead, he blamed their political enemy for formerly leading a bankrupt municipality during Dr Mpho Phalatse’s mayoral reign in 2022.
“It is the DA that bankrupted the city. When we were in leadership, the city was financially healthy,” said Manganye.
The Star