Al Jama-ah leader defends Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, blames ANC for poor service delivery

Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks has fired shots at the ANC after reports that Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda is set to be removed.

This comes after it was revealed that the ANC and Action SA are in talks to form a coalition in the City of Johannesburg and oust Gwamanda.

The City of Johannesburg has faced a string of service delivery problems during Gwamanda’s tenure. Hendricks, however, blamed the ANC for some of the governance problems.

ALSO READ: Mashaba reveals ANC plans to dump Gwamanda as Joburg mayor

Gwamanda, an Al-Jama-ah councillor, has been in the mayoral office for the last 16 months under the ANC-EFF coalition.

Hendricks sees red over removal of Gwamanda

Hendricks expressed outrage over calls for Gwamanda to resign and told eNCA that it was not the Al Jama-ah councillor’s fault that there are service delivery problems in Johannesburg.

“Ninety-five percent of the staff in the Mayoral Parlour [building] are ANC. All the officials, 92% of them are all ANC appointed. The ANC controls the recruitment process and selection because they are in charge of that portfolio,” he said.

Henricks said the City of Johannesburg is run by several parties, including the ANC and the EFF, and all parties should be held responsible for the setbacks in the metro.

“If Al Jama-ah messed up it’s because of ANC members working in Mayoral Parlour and the senior officials,” he added.

Hendricks said the only reason the ANC was now changing the coalition in the City of Johannesburg was because party leaders wanted to secure their positions in the municipality.

Since the government of national unity (GNU) was formed, the EFF has not voted with the ANC on several issues.

“The ANC feels insecure and the PA is coming with certain demands, so the ANC feels that they need a more reliable partner,” he said.

ALSO READ: Al Jama-ah said it joined GNU to weaken DA and its allies

Gwamanda will be the second Al Jama-ah councillor to resign as Joburg mayor since the government of local unity was formed last year.

However, Hendricks said the mayor would not be resigning anytime soon.

“That will not be happening. Not next week, maybe later,” he said.

The first Al Jama-ah mayor, Thapelo Amad, resigned three months after taking office. He came under pressure after announcing he had secured a R9.5 billion loan to improve service delivery. Soon after Gwamanda took over, he was accused of fraud and corruption related to an insurance scheme in Soweto.

In an interview with the SABC, ANC secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the ANC would deliberate on the matter over the weekend. He said recommendations would then be made to the National Working Committee (NWC).

The ANC in Johannesburg said it would revert back to The Citizen with a comment.