Pretoria - The City of Joburg looks set for more instability following calls for a motion of no confidence against mayor Thapelo Amad and threats by the Patriotic Alliance (PA) to pull out of the coalition government.
Yesterday, ActionSA and the DA put more pressure on Amad to resign after he publicly announced on a national broadcaster that he had sourced a loan of R9.5 billion from an unnamed sponsor to help deal with the financial crisis in Joburg.
Adding to Amad’s troubles, PA leader Gayton McKenzie indicated that his party was considering pulling out of the coalition governments in Joburg and Ekurhuleni, and such a decision was likely to be taken at its national executive committee meeting today.
ActionSA Gauteng leader Funzi Ngobeni said his party had submitted motions of no confidence in the City of Johannesburg’s “puppet mayor” Thapelo Amad, the “dishonest” speaker, Colleen Makhubele, and other office-bearers who were all appointed through dealings between the ANC’s Gauteng provincial chairperson, Panyaza Lesufi, and the EFF.
“Mayor Amad, an expedient candidate between the ANC and EFF’s coalition of doom, has time and time again proven to be woefully ill-equipped and unable to articulate a coherent plan of action and vision for the City of Johannesburg.
“Most recently, Amad has shown his inability to understand the basics of a loan agreement in a television interview,” Ngobeni said.
“When Panyaza Lesufi’s ANC and EFF could not come to terms about who leads Johannesburg, they were willing to force on the residents of Johannesburg someone patently not fit to lead Johannesburg,” he said.
He said the motions of no confidence would be tabled at the next council meeting on April 25.
He said ActionSA would start with engaging with all other parties in the council to ensure that the ANC and EFF were removed from exerting any further control on Johannesburg.
DA caucus leader Mpho Phalatse shared these sentiments as she also labelled Amad as the mayor of the puppet-led administration.
Phalatse said Amad told the SABC that the loan was a done deal but had since retracted his statement.
“The executive mayor has no business getting involved in these kinds of administrative processes. This is criminal and requires investigation.
“The DA caucus in Johannesburg will ensure that this instance of corruption is uncovered and dealt with.
“The executive mayor is in way over his head, and he should have allowed city officials to manage administrative processes in line with relevant legislation and the Constitution,” Phalatse said.
In reply to the allegations, Amad said the loan proposal referred to was but one of many unsolicited proposals advanced to the city following widely published reports on the city’s financial difficulties following the Covid-19 pandemic and its subsequent economic impact on ratepayers and the city.
“The mention of the R9.5bn loan facility was made as a mere example of the proposals received and not stated as a final and concluded deal of the city. It was used within the context of the interview to demonstrate a collective will by the city leadership to steer Johannesburg and the inner city towards growth and development.
“The city processes all proposals in line with the legal prescripts applicable to local government and considered by the relevant portfolio MMCs and departments,” Amad said.
Pretoria News