Johannesburg - The DA has come to the defence of its Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba who is facing a motion of no confidence from the ANC next week.
The party in Gauteng has launched an online petition called "Save Jozi Mayor” in which it accuses the ANC of wanting to return to loot the coffers of the economic hub.
“Since mayor Mashaba launched the Anti-Corruption Unit over two years ago, to uncover corrupt activities inherited from the ANC-led City of Johannesburg’s old office, 5 335 cases have been investigated, involving more than R24 billion in transactions,” reads the petition.
The ANC has accused Mashaba and his administration of reversing programmes of the previous ANC administration in a bid to make it look bad and of accusing it of corruption without providing tangible proof.
The party said Mashaba had also allowed the EFF to indirectly influence tenders where the red berets secured kickbacks.
The DA petition has set a target of 100 00 votes.
DA Gauteng leader John Moodey said the ANC was trying to punish Mashaba for doing what was right since he took over in 2016.
“Under his leadership, mayor Mashaba turned the city’s finances around, to currently the healthiest financial position it has ever been in. In fact, under the ANC administration 19% of the city’s budget was stolen through corruption,”Moodey said.
The motion of no confidence is set for Thursday August 22.