Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda. Picture: The Citizen
ActionSA says it will work with the ANC in Johannesburg on condition that Kabelo Gwamanda of Al Jama-ah is removed as executive mayor.
At a media briefing yesterday, ActionSA national chair Michael Beaumont placed three key issues on its conditional support of the ANC in Johannesburg.
“First is the removal of mayor. The second is the immediate reversal of the R200 surcharge heartlessly imposed by City Power on prepaid users.
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“Third, we will produce a series of motions, the purpose of which would be to position the city to turn around in key front line service delivery matters, including infrastructure renewal and the rejuvenation of the inner city,” said Beaumont.
Political analyst Sandile Swana reflected on how ActionSA president Herman Mashaba had made his political debut in Joburg as a successful mayor.
He said political strategists had advised Mashaba to focus his campaign in Gauteng, where he was respected with ActionSA.
“Mashaba and ActionSA have rightly felt betrayed by the DA when the DA went into the GNU with the ANC [and] dumping the Multi-Party Charter,” he said.
Swana said the Gauteng metros were ActionSA’s biggest constituency. If the deal was about Gauteng metros, then the party would be interested, especially if it excluded the DA.
“Mashaba can work with the ANC and EFF and create stable metros. Dada Morero [finance MMC] might be appointed as the new mayor.”
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Despite previous vows to never work with the ANC, Mashaba said partnership was key to rooting out corruption in Johannesburg.
He said ActionSA would not enter the executive to co-govern, no coalition agreement would be signed and the party’s support, even for a new mayor, would be provided only on the consideration of the merits of the matter.
“We will supply our 44 votes in Johannesburg metro to the government on an issue-by-issue basis. We will vote and support the ANC on an executive level.”
He described Gwamanda’s tenure as a failure and said Joburg had continued its downward spiral to the detriment of its residents
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