The City of Johannesburg is scheduled to decide executive mayor Dada Morero’s future and who to usher in as the city’s new deputy executive mayor.
Morero’s future hangs in the balance as coalition partner Al Jama-ah persists with its motion of no-confidence.
The party previously withdrew the motion following the intervention of coalition partners. At the time, the disgruntled parties felt they wanted to show Morero the door amid complaints that he continued to run the council as if his political party, the ANC, had a majority.
The first motion in December was withdrawn because the parties felt they needed to convene and discuss their issues on “a political level”.
However, the rescheduling does not seem to have yielded any results.
A minority party insider told the Sunday Times they are forging ahead with their bid to oust Morero.
“We are not withdrawing this motion this time around. We maintain that we want Dada [Morero] gone. It’s something that we have maintained since November. There has been stalling and so on for quite some time, but the ANC is not coming to the party. They’ve promised to engage us, but their engagements have yielded nothing.”
Meanwhile, the same minority grouping that occupied chairperson positions is facing no-confidence motions following their campaign to unseat Morero.
“That was a retaliatory move meant to scare us. We don’t care about being removed as chairpersons. Our stance remains that he must go; he is not good for the coalition nor service delivery.”
Our differences are not partisan; they are principled. The MGPs respect the ANC’s participation in the GLU but believe the leadership of Morero has compromised the stability and credibility of the coalition. This motion seeks to change the mayor, not to break the coalition.
— The minority governing parties
The source claims that a political management meeting on Tuesday evening, which is entrusted with mitigating issues facing the coalition, had failed to resolve the situation.
The insider said they had no intention of mending fences with Morero, and either he withdrew or they proceeded with forcibly ousting him from office.
“We told him to resign, and they told us they are going to engage on that matter. Yesterday they came back and they told us stories about their secretary-general having been busy and that they are still waiting for an outcome.”
The Inkatha Freedom Party is said to have questioned the way forward, asking what is to be done in the upcoming council when the agenda item is tabled.
“We asked what happens as a coalition government, what do we tell our caucuses. When this item comes, do we withdraw them, do we stall them, do we vote against?”
Insiders said minorities stood firm and would not answer these questions, and preferred that the motion be taken to the council to be tested there.
The insider said it appeared the ANC would be the only party to field a candidate for the deputy mayor position.
“We have no problem with Loyiso Masuku. No-one else has said they are fielding a candidate except for them, because we have never discussed it. Parties were never consulted.”
Despite their disagreement with the ANC on some fronts, ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont said it was their policy to support the establishment of the deputy mayor position.
“We support the move, it strengthens governance and coalition power-sharing. We have always supported the idea, we have done it in Tshwane and everywhere else, we can’t be seen to be only in support when it concerns our people.
Beaumont dismissed claims that this position brought an additional financial burden on council, saying that it was usually someone already appointed in the mayoral committee.
“The position is given to someone already on the mayoral committee. They take on additional executive powers, but there is no additional role created or monies spent on the post. We will not be fielding anyone.”
On Morero’s future, Beaumont said his party would not abruptly vote in favour of a dismantling of a government without a credible alternative.
“Our position is that we don’t typically support no-confidence motions fielded with no clear alternative government to put in place. It causes instability, and worse, places us at the mercy of these smaller parties who might field someone like Kabelo Gwamanda. It’s untenable.”
Most caucuses are said to have met to finalise their views, with the outcome expected to play out in the council meeting on Thursday.
Despite the trouble caused within the coalition, minorities maintain that they will not retreat or surrender.
“Under Morero’s tenure, Johannesburg has experienced one of its most difficult periods of administrative instability and service delivery collapse. The minority governing parties wish to make it clear that the motion is not against the ANC or its role in the government of local unity.”
The minority grouping said their issue was with the mayor as an individual and not the party which deployed him.
“Our differences are not partisan; they are principled. The MGPs respect the ANC’s participation in the GLU but believe the leadership of Morero has compromised the stability and credibility of the coalition. This motion seeks to change the mayor, not to break the coalition.”
The minority bloc sought to oust Morero because of “a sustained breakdown of governance, administrative capture and political interference in the city’s operations”.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.