Johnathan Paoli
Former Johannesburg Executive Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda has officially resigned after handing in his resignation letter to Council Speaker Margaret Arnolds on Tuesday following negotiations between the Al Jama-ah Party and the ANC in terms of their coalition.
Gwamanda was the 10th Mayor in 8-years in the history of the Joburg Metro following the deaths and resignations of several Mayors.
ANC candidate Dada Morero is expected to take over the reins after initial resistance from Al Jama-ah.
There have been growing calls for Gwamanda’s resignation
Calls for Gwamanda’s resignation have been growing over the last few weeks, over lack of service delivery and the recently introduced R200 pre-paid electricity surcharge for City Power clients.
Also, the recent ‘marriage of convenience’ between the ANC and ActionSA, had Gwamanda’s removal as one of the key conditions of the agreement.
ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba said a further condition was the immediate reversal of the R200 surcharge – an ordinance sadly attributed to Gwamanda’s administration.
Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks previously said that Gwamanda would remain Mayor until Christmas, but negotiations between the two parties have taken a different turn bringing an early Christmas for his party.
Gwamanda previously defended his tenure as executive leader of the metro and said he was nominated, despite holding no ambitions for the position.
“My only desire at the time was that we put in place a government and administration that would look into the issues that were a big challenge in the City of Johannesburg. In particular, stabilising the administrative wing,” he said.
Gwamanda was elected in May 2023 following his fellow party member Thapelo Amad’s resignation.
The resignation is set to be effective from a date still to be determined by the Speaker, wherein a new Executive Mayor will be elected by the Council.
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