Herman Mashaba (left) and DA leader Mmusi Maimane at a press conference where the Mashaba resigned as the mayor of the City of Johannesburg, 21 October 2019. Picture: Tracy Lee Stark.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has announced that its federal executive (FedEx) will “urgently” convene a meeting “in order to assess the impact” of Herman Mashaba’s resignation as mayor of the City of Johannesburg and “ensure political stability” and how the part responds “in the best interests of the” city’s residents.
In a statement following Mashaba’s announcement that he would resign as mayor of Johannesburg, DA national spokesperson Solly Malatsi said the city is better today “than it was three years ago”.
Malatsi said the DA respects Mashaba’s decision and wishes him “all the best with his future endeavours”.
“The resignation of Mr Mashaba as Mayor of Johannesburg does not signal an end to the DA’s commitment to the people of Johannesburg and South Africa,” Malatsi said.
He said the DA and its coalition partners in the Johannesburg council have made significant progress in turning the city around “specifically in the areas of unlocking opportunities, stopping and acting against corruption, and accelerating the delivery of quality services”.
Malatsi listed a number of areas he said the DA-led multiparty coalition government “has made huge progress in” within three years, which include the recruitment of 1,500 Metro police officers “to assist in the fight against crime” and “the city’s newly established corruption busting unit”, which he said “has recorded over 5,335 cases worth more than R34 billion in transactions”.
“We would like to thank Mr Mashaba for his service to the people of Johannesburg.”
Meanwhile, the ANC in Johannesburg has accused Mashaba of “running away” from the city’s “soon to be exposed” financial crisis which the party said can be blamed on the outgoing mayor.
(Compiled by Makhosandile Zulu)
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