A solid foundation from which the birth of a sustained citizen-led movement which holds the city responsible for service delivery and sound financial administration has been laid.
The Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) has now focused its energy on calling for Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda and his mayoral committee to step aside or be removed due to their alleged inability to run the city which is, ‘falling apart at an alarming speed’.
The JCA, which is comprised of civil society organisations, residents’ associations, and other groupings, said it would continue its noble quest to stop the rot in Jozi.
“There are pockets of discontent across the city from informal settlements to wealthy suburbs with residents hidden behind high walls,” said Tessa Dooms, the director at Rivonia Circle.
She added residents needed to collectively hold the executive to account. “This is now urgent as for the last decade we hoped politicians would come and save us, but this has not led to any accountability. The mayor is failing, but there are also historic political failures that came about due to a lack of consequence for delinquent office bearers,” she claimed.
She and others said it was no longer possible to wait until the next local government elections.
Wayne Duvenage, the CEO of Outa concurred. “We want to send a strong message to politicians. If you are going to replace Gwamanda with an equally ill-qualified mayor, the pressure will intensify.
“We have a bloated administration, wasteful expenditure, no accountability, and political appointees who are unwilling to carry out their work ethically,” he alleged. “This is all only possible due to a failing of basic leadership and management from the top.”
He added the city was already ‘broke’ yet was taking out more loans that would impact future generations.
Rev Moss Ntlha from Defend Our Democracy said, “so many people had hoped for a better life – it is such a tragedy that the leadership presiding over the city acts with such impunity.”
He added the raising of municipal tariffs without due consultation and process was appalling. “We must end the era of no accountability and form a people-led movement against it.”
Ishmael Mkhabela, a community organiser said writing to the President to ask for him to step in had been fruitless.
The alliance also condemned the mayor’s ‘contemptuous and disdainful press statement labelling Johannesburg residents who raised their concerns about the electricity surcharge as ‘stooges’.
The JCA is unified in stating that they did not have a preferred replacement for Gwamanda to put forward.
Dooms said, “All the ward and PR councillors sit in council have the power to choose the best person and can make rational decisions, but they have failed to do that. They must also be held accountable for sitting back while the executive breaks the city.”
Nishan Bolton, executive director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation said of the current mayor, “He might have been a good councillor, but when managing a multimillion-rand budget he is sorely lacking.”
The JCA has also called on the business sector to be more active in holding the city accountable. Duvenage said, “You [business] have your assets and have invested millions – why aren’t you doing all you can to ensure the investment is sound in a city that works?”
The alliance will hold a demonstration on July 27 at the council building to formally launch its mass mobilisation campaign to remove the mayor and force accountability from the city.
“We don’t have all the answers, but as a collective and as we are joined by more communities, we will not stop keeping a foot on the necks of incompetent and corrupt politicians,” concluded Bolton.
The mayor and spokesperson for the city, Nthatisi Modingoane, were contacted for comment on July 26 concerning the claims made by the Joburg Crisis Alliance. No comment had been received at the time of going to press.
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