Another: Kabelo Gwamanda resigned as Johannesburg's mayor on Tuesday. (Photo: Luba Lesor)
TTensions are brewing between Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda and his predecessor and Al Jama'a Party colleague Thapelo Ahmad over who should be members of the Mayoral Council (MMC) under new Mayor Dada Molero.
Ahmad is Al-Jama'a's provincial leader in Gauteng.
Gwamanda resigned as mayor on Tuesday after the ANC demanded his removal to make way for Morello. His resignation will take effect from a date to be determined by council speaker Margaret Arnold, who is also due to step down.
In his resignation letter, Gwamanda said that as Johannesburg's youngest mayor, he had stabilised the metro financially and administratively after the collapse of the multi-party coalition that ran the railway.
“I am pleased that we have been able to get back on track with good governance and achieve the best audit outcome the City has seen in years. I will continue to serve the people of Johannesburg as a City Councillor and will forever cherish the experiences I have gained during my term as Executive Mayor,” he said.
A source in a minority party involved in the municipality told the Mail and Guardian that Ahmad was not happy with Gwamanda being a member of the MMC because, as the leader of the Al-Jama'a Party in the province, he believed the position should be given to him.
According to one source, Amado believes Gwamanda should be rewarded for the sacrifices he made to enable him to become mayor.
“The ANC always takes seniority into account just like Dada, the speaker, was appointed mayor. We expect them in Al Jama'ah to take into account who is the senior person and promote that person,” they said.
Ahmad resigned as Johannesburg mayor in April 2023, on the eve of the motion of no confidence being tabled, allowing Al-Jama'ah to install Gwamanda as his successor.
A source in the ANC's provincial executive committee told the M&G that there was no opposition when Molero was nominated as the party's mayoral candidate. The source also confirmed there was tension between Gwamanda and Ahmad.
“Thapelo is an Al-Jama'ah leader and feels that he should be the MMC if there is a vacancy. We don't want to talk about who should be placed in the MMC post. Al-Jama'ah will give us names,” they said.
Sources said it was still unclear when Arnold would step down and whether he would be replaced by a representative from ActionSA.
“For now we just want to appoint a mayor and further discussions on the chairman will take place afterwards,” they said.
The M&G tried to get comment from Mr Gwamanda and Mr Ahmad but to no avail.
Al-Jamaha Party leader Ganief Hendrix said the party had drawn up a retirement plan that would see Gwamanda redeployed to the mayoral committee.
“A meeting was held late at night with the ANC, which was also attended by the mayor. The Al Jama'ah leader promoted a withdrawal strategy in line with the president's wishes,” he said.
ANC provincial secretary Sasavona Manganye told the M&G that Gwamanda would be joining the mayoral selection committee. She said the MMC post left vacant by Molero's appointment as mayor would be given to a minority party, but added that she did not want to get involved in internal party discussions on the matter.
“The understanding that the ANC has from the minority is that if the discussions result in a situation where the mayor and the speaker are not available, then they will have priority in the mayoral committee,” he said.
“We have assured Al Jama'a Party that these are internal party commitments and we can guarantee that the mayor will be accepted by the mayoral committee.”
Manganye denied that the ANC was forced by Action SA to remove Gwamanda as mayor. Action SA had previously said the two parties had agreed to take over the speakership and that Gwamanda would step down from his position to field an ANC candidate for mayor.
“Kabero Gwamanda did not resign because of Action SA's comments. In fact, he was willing to agree to work with Action SA on the condition that if the coalition agreement did not allow for a mayor, Gwamanda would resign. We have enough numbers to elect a mayor with or without Action SA,” Manganye said.
