Nine days after Funzela Ngobeni resigned as the DA Joburg Caucus Leader on 2 March, his position was filled by yet another Roodepoort councillor, Leah Knott.
On 11 March, Leah was elected as the new Caucus Leader and one of the first, and most important tasks that she needed to complete was identifying suitable candidates to make up the Shadow Cabinet and fill the position of Deputy Caucus Leader.
The Shadow Cabinet is a group of councillors from the Official Opposition Party (in this case, the DA) appointed to individual portfolios being managed by the current Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMCs).
Leah was responsible for ensuring the Shadow MMC positions were filled by councillors who she was confident could do the job effectively and professionally. She said the extremely difficult decision ultimately came down to councillors who were able to work well together, while still being able to manage their portfolios independently.
On Monday, 16 March, Leah announced her decision and the new Deputy Caucus Leader and Shadow MMCs were appointed with three names very familiar to Roodepoort residents: Michael Sun, David Brand and Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku.
Michael formerly held an MMC position under Herman Mashaba, and was extremely active in all of Johannesburg’s communities.
David is currently the Ward 126 councillor and is well known for his efforts to help his residents resolve issues, and for keeping them updated on progress made when problems occur.
Belinda is currently the Ward 114 DA PR councillor and is extremely active in the communities of Cosmo City and Zandspruit.
The Opposition Party Shadow Cabinet is put in place for accountability reasons; to make sure that the executive party (in this case the ANC) is performing their duties in a professional and effective way.
The Shadow MMCs monitor what is happening in their respective portfolios, for example Housing, and perform oversight, offer communication, and offer potential alternatives where necessary.
Nothing is ever predictable in local government, as seen especially over the past few months, so the Shadow MMCs are appointed to monitor the portfolios and fill the MMC positions, should the DA return to power in the City of Johannesburg.
The positions in the Shadow Cabinet were filled as follows:
• Deputy Caucus Leader: Councillor Michael Sun
• Shadow MMC for Public Safety: Councillor Michael Sun
• Shadow MMC for Housing: Councillor David Brand
• Shadow MMC for Community Development: Councillor Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku
• Shadow MMC for Health: Councillor Genevieve Sherman
• Shadow MMC for Transport: Councillor Sean Kreusch
• Shadow MMC for Economic Development: Councillor Ntombi Khumalo
• Shadow MMC for Group Corporate and Shared Services: Councillor Dalu Cele
• Shadow MMC for Development Planning: Councillor Reuben Masango
• Shadow MMC for Finance: Councillor Patrick Atkinson
• Shadow MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services: Councillor Nicole van Dyk
A statement was released by the DA congratulating the councillors on their appointments and wishing them luck in serving the community and upholding accountability in their respective portfolios, especially to Johannesburg residents.
