Johannesburg - The City of Joburg is in a leadership crisis once more as the mayor, Thapelo Amad, is faced with a choice to either resign or face a motion of no confidence.
On Tuesday, an extraordinary council meeting will witness a motion of no confidence in Amad brought by ActionSA.
The Star understands that the numbers are against Amad and that he would lose his mayorship without the support of the Patriotic Alliance (PA), which has been calling for the his resignation.
Amad was reportedly summoned to the ANC’s provincial headquarters (HQ), where he was asked to step down as mayor. Reports suggested that Kabelo Gwamanda, an Al-Jama-ah City of Joburg councillor, was the preferred candidate to replace Amad.
Sources close to the matter said that negotiations for the mayoral position continued throughout the weekend. Some members of the minority parties were not happy about the ANC’s support for another Al-Jama-ah councillor to become the number one citizen of the city.
PA spokesperson Steve Motale said negotiations were continuing between members of the coalition for local unity.
"Yes, the PA is for now part of the Joburg coalition. However, discussions with all political parties on the mayorship of the city are ongoing and at a very sensitive stage. It would be premature to get carried away with comments now," Motale said.
The PA had already begun engagements with other opposition parties in preparation to leave the ANC-led coalition in the City of Joburg. It was not clear if the talks would continue should the mayor resign before the motion of no confidence on Tuesday.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba told The Star that his party was still willing to work with like-minded parties to remove the ANC from power in the city. All former members of the multi-party coalition, which was led by the DA, agreed to support the motion of no confidence in the mayor.
"ActionSA goes into coalition with other like-minded political parties, not for positions, but to save the municipality from the ANC and provide services to the residents," Mashaba said.
ActionSA had also filed a motion of no confidence against Speaker of council, Colleen Makhubele. The party has accused her of neglecting her duties.
Makhubele was accused of making public appearances while she was on sick leave. She rubbished claims that she had neglected her duties and said she would not discuss her medical condition in the media or in council. The motion of no confidence against her did not have enough support.
Both the ANC and Al-Jama-ah remained mum on the mayorship talks.
The Star