PHUTI MOSOMANE
THAPELO Amad, the Al Jama-ah councillor, has stepped down as mayor of the City of Johannesburg.
His resignation coincides with a scheduled motion of no confidence vote that was set to be debated at a council meeting on Tuesday.
“I’m not resigning out of fear that I’ll be ousted; I’m resigning to bring stability to the City of Joburg,” said Amad on Monday night.
Amad said his resignation had nothing to do with public opinion following his television interview with SABC where he said a R9.5-billion loan was offered to the city by a private company.
“The R9 billion loan matter was just a prospect, a discussion. As the mayor I engage stakeholders to ensure that there is stability and it also suggest good governance, so I meet the prospects and there was never contravention of any laws of council,” said Amad.
Amad was elected Joburg mayor in January. He replaced the former Joburg mayor, Mpho Phalatse, a councillor of the country’s largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), following her removal in a vote of no-confidence.
According to ANC Gauteng provincial chairperson Panyaza Lesufi, Amad demonstrated selfless leadership during his term and his resignation was not due to fear of the upcoming motion.
“Thapelo Amad didn’t resign because we are scared of the motion tomorrow … In the next few days, the government of local unity will meet to submit a new name as our candidate for the position of Mayor,” said Lesufi while announcing Amad’s resignation.
ActionSA caucus leader Funzi Ngobeni said the party welcomed “the overdue resignation of the ANC-EFF’s puppet Mayor Thapelo Amad ahead of our motion of no confidence in him tomorrow. We hope his resignation opens the door for a stable coalition that can oust the ANC-EFF in the economic hub of the country.”
“Mayor Thapelo Amad ran away at night to avoid imminent removal by a successful motion of no confidence, saving embarrassment for the ANC-EFF coalition. His resignation is due to the direct and ongoing pressure from ActionSA. He did not resign voluntarily as mentioned in his resignation address,” said Ngobeni.
“The ANC-EFF ‘Coalition of Doom’ Mayor Thapelo – what Gauteng Panyaza Lesufi called their “best shot” during a press briefing – was an embarrassment and has repeatedly proven to be woefully ill-equipped and unable to articulate a coherent plan of action and vision for the City of Johannesburg.”
The president of the Patriot Alliance, Gayton McKenzie, said at the same media briefing that he was not available to replace Amad as the Johannesburg mayor.
The fallout between the DA and ActionSA coalition alliance has escalated ahead of the vote of no confidence in Amad.
The DA withdrew its support of the ActionSA coalition alliance following their acceptance of McKenzie’s Patriotic Alliance into the marriage.
In a letter written by DA leader John Steenhuisen, the party announced that it would not form a coalition with the PA in Johannesburg in the near future.
The decision was made after a meeting held on April 19th with leadership from the DA, ActionSA, PA, IFP, VF Plus, and ACDP to discuss the support for the motions of no confidence against Amad and to replace him with a multi-party coalition, including the parties that elected Mayor Mpho Phalatse in November 2021.
ActionSA Gauteng Chairperson Funzi Ngobeni said that they remain hopeful that the DA will reconsider their decision, and that the coalition partners have not yet agreed on a candidate for Mayor.
“We have not yet agreed on a candidate for mayor. But PA has been accepted into the coalition and we remain hopeful that the DA will reconsider their decision,” said Ngobeni.
ActionSA, IFP and the ACDP made a joint statement to the DA and appealed for the party to rethink its approach and “to do the right thing by the residents of Johannesburg and all South Africans who seek a viable alternative to the ANC and EFF in 2024.”
“It is clear that the ANC and EFF are forcing compromise Mayors, like Amad, upon Joburg residents. Amad has proven to be entirely incapable of governing the City, and has no coherent vision. If the DA is indeed committed to good governance, it should work to remove Amad and elect a mayor that is capable of leading a city with complex challenges like Johannesburg,” the coalition parties said in a statement.
The coalition partners further argued that keeping the ANC and EFF out in 2024 and removing them in the City of Johannesburg required like-minded political parties to put aside their differences to fix South Africa.
“The DA’s refusal to work with the PA is effectively sending the message that a coalition that includes the PA is worse than the ‘doomsday’ scenario. The work of keeping the ANC and EFF out in 2024, and removing them next week in Joburg, cannot be exclusive or elitist and it requires link-minded political parties to put aside their differences to fix South Africa,” the coalition partners said.
The DA’s refusal to form a coalition with the PA has resulted in the multi-party coalition in Tshwane continuing without a majority following the resignation of a DA ward councillor.
This vacancy has resulted in the failure to pass the city’s adjustments budget.
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