‘Joburg mayor will stay’: Kabelo Gwamanda at centre of political storm

The motion against Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda is likely not to succeed as new kingmakers Patriotic Alliance (PA) will not be voting for the removal of him next week.

This comes after ActionSA filed a motion of no confidence against the mayor in June, citing allegations he scammed residents out of funeral insurance investments through a Ponzi scheme.

At the time, former Joburg mayor Mpho Phalatse accused Gwamanda of flouting the financial laws of the country, swindling and scamming the public.

PA spokesperson Steve Motale said it was not true the party was going to vote for Gwamanda to be axed as they were happy with his performance.

“We voted for Gwamanda to be mayor. We are happy with his performance and we will never support any motion of no confidence against him,” Motale said.

“He is doing an excellent job so far, so as the PA, we are not going to support any motion.”

He also dismissed claims the party had met with ActionSA to discuss the possibility of the PA joining the Multi-Party Charter of South Africa with the Democratic Alliance (DA), ActionSA, Inkatha Freedom Party, Freedom Front Plus, Independent South African National Civic Organisation, United Independent Movement and Spectrum National Party.

Motale said it was “absolute nonsense” the PA had met with ActionSA to discuss the removal of Gwamanda or join them in their coalition.

“We have never had a meeting where the discussion was around Gwamanda. Our position is clear: we are happy with him,” he said.

ActionSA Joburg caucus leader Nobuhle Mthembu said the party was confident about the removal of Gwamanda and they were still in discussion with other political parties to remove him. Mthembu said they were encouraged by the fact that no-one has come out straight and said they did not support the motion against Gwamanda.

“They might say it in the media, but they have not come to us directly when we were lobbying them to say they are not interested,” she said.

Mthembu said the PA was not the only party in council they were lobbying to remove Gwamanda. President Cyril Ramaphosa told ANC members during a gathering last weekend that former mayor Dada Morero should be in charge of Joburg.

Morero had a “good grasp” of local government finances and service delivery, Ramaphosa said.

“One interesting thing about this whole motion is that the president has stated that his preferred candidate is Morero, while his party chose Gwamanda,” Mthembu said.

“This shows you where everyone is at. “It’s not only ActionSA that says this person is not a credible leader, it’s the majority of parties.”

Asked who would be their preferred candidate for mayorship if Gwamanda was removed, Mthembu said they were not yet in discussion about who they were going to put forward as a mayor.

DA Joburg caucus leader Belinda Echeozonjoku said she was not aware of any discussions for the PA to join the Multi-Party Charter of South Africa.

No discussions would be held next week to discuss who the party would support if Gwamanda was to be removed, she said.

Echeozonjoku also did not want to be drawn on how far investigations were in the case the party opened against the mayor for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme.

“The victims opened a case and the DA supported those victims. Police can answer,” she said.

Political analyst Dr Levy Ndou said Joburg council politicians were not focused on service delivery or the interest of residents.

Ndou said the council was about politicians trying their best to position themselves for positions of power in the metro.