City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor, Herman Mashaba, said the African National Congress (ANC) seeks to reverse the progress towards change made in the City after the party filed a motion of no confidence against him.
The debate on the motion is set for the council sitting on 26 and 27 September. The ANC confirmed that it also filed a motion of no confidence in the council speaker, Vasco Da Gama.
Mashaba hit back, saying that after only 13 months in office this move should be dismissed as the antics of a desperate party trying to come to terms with its new role as the opposition. “The ANC cites so-called financial distress in the City as the primary grounds for the motion. The reality is that despite the institutionalised corruption (we) inherited, we have a financial statement that is stable. The ANC was dishonest in government, and their relationship with the truth has continued its demise.
“The fact is that this baseless allegation is a smoke screen, aimed at assuming control that would allow the looting to continue once again because change threatens the very survival of the ANC.”
The ANC’s Jolidee Matongo said the party is concerned because the motion has been made public. This was in direct contravention of the council rules. “The motion is embargoed until it is discussed. Mashaba has again broken the rules. This is one of the reasons for the motion,” said Matongo.
He said the party will ask the speaker to refer the mayor to the council’s ethics committee.
Asked what the possibility of the mayor’s removal is, Matongo said the ANC was in talks with all the other political parties, except the Democratic Alliance (DA). He added that even within the DA there were councillors who were no longer happy.
Mashaba said the ANC’s motion of no confidence is ‘a desperate effort to climb back on the gravy train they have been deprived of for the past 13 months’.
In Mogale City, a local municipality on the West Rand, the ‘no confidence’ vote against the newly elected DA mayor succeeded recently. This resulted in a new ANC mayor being appointed despite the existing partnership between the DA and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
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