No political leadership at the City of Johannesburg once again.
The passing of yet another executive mayor has returned the City to a state of reduced leadership. Just as was the case when Geoffrey Makhubo passed away on July 9, Jolidee Matongo’s recent passing has left the City without a mayor and the team of the Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) being immediately dissolved.
The Local Government: Municipal Structures Act 117 of 1998, the legislation governing the running of municipalities, does not directly state when a mayor must be replaced in such instances.
It does state that a mayor must be elected within 14 days after local government elections and that a vacancy in the office of executive mayor must be filled whenever necessary. According to the act, if the executive mayor vacates office, the mayoral committee appointed by that executive mayor dissolves.
As it stands, the Speaker of Council, Nonceba Mowele, is the acting head of Council until a mayor is elected while City managers will take over from the dissolved MMCs.
Democratic Alliance’s City of Johannesburg Chief Whip and Ward 134 councillor Wendy Alexander previously stated that because the City does not have a deputy mayor, the MMCs have been dissolved. This beares consequences for the City as no one can be held responsible and accountable from a political point of view until the vacancies are filled. Alexander said, “There is no leadership from our executive councillors which is problematic in a city the size of Johannesburg. It’s always important to have strong leadership at the helm of a big metropolitan and making sure that we’re making the right decisions.”
Former mayor Matongo lost his life along with two others on September 18 after being involved in a motor vehicle accident on the Golden Highway. He was laid to rest on September 24 at West Park Cemetery surrounded by family, friends and colleagues and officials from the City of Johannesburg and its entities.
He is the third mayor to vacate the office in the last five years after taking over from his predecessor Geoffrey Makhubo who died from Covid-19 complications.
Prior to Makhubo being mayor, Herman Mashaba occupied the role having been sworn in as mayor on August 23, 2016 as the first non-ANC Johannesburg mayor since 1994. He held this position until November 27, 2019 following his resignation due to differences he had with his party, the Democratic Alliance.
The City of Johannesburg Speaker Mowele is still to announce procedures that will follow to replace Matongo and whether it will be impacted by the upcoming Local Government Elections.
This is a developing story and an update will be shared once it has become available.
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