Gwamanda’s resignation as Joburg mayor welcomed

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Opposition parties have welcomed under fire Kabelo Gwamanda’s resignation as Joburg mayor after mounting calls for him to step down.

Calls for Gwamanda, a member of Al Jama-ah, who was a compromise candidate between the ANC and EFF to walk-away from his prestigious position gained momentum over recent weeks.

Joburg Crisis Alliance also made their voice heard the mayor’s head citing significant decline in citizen confidence and trust in his leadership.

Announcing his resignation on Tuesday, Gwamanda said he is humbled by the opportunity to have led this City and stabilized it financially and administratively following the collapse of the multi-party coalition government.

“I am pleased that we managed to place good governance on course and that we achieved the best audit outcomes witnessed by the City in years.” 

“I shall continue to serve the people of Johannesburg as a Councilor and will forever cherish the experience afforded to me in my tenure as the Executive Mayor,” he stated. 

Welcoming Gwamanda’s resignation, ActionSA caucus leader Nobuhle Mthembu said his tenure can only be characterised by failure and catastrophic incompetence, with the evidence of the City’s downward spiral evident across Johannesburg.

She added; “Residents of the City of Johannesburg have suffered under a Mayor whose ineptitude and habitual blame-shifting, never self-included despite his unambiguous executive responsibility, have led to a disastrous state of service delivery across the City.”

Mthembu highlighted that while the resignation of Gwamanda is a welcome first step, rebuilding Johannesburg will necessitate a sustained effort driven by decisive action, a clear plan, and unwavering political will.

According to Build One SA(BOSA) Member of the Gauteng Legislature, Ayanda Allie, Gwamanda’s resignation brings to an end a calamitous 466-day period of instability, poor service delivery and general malaise in the country’s economic heartland.

Allie maintained that Gwamanda was nothing more than a puppet mayor – a useful figurehead of a government in which very little de facto power resided.

[Media Statement] BOSA welcomes resignation of Johannesburg’s puppet mayor Kabelo Gwamanda#BuildOneSA pic.twitter.com/2yHPJBhPtZ

— BOSA (@BuildOneSA) August 13, 2024

“BOSA remains cautiously optimistic about the future of the City, and calls on all parties in council to apply their minds diligently and ethically as they elected a new mayor to take over the reins.

“The first items on the new mayors to do list is to scrap the unjust R200 monthly electricity surcharge and to update the indigent registry to ensure every vulnerable citizen in the city is righty receiving free basic services such as water and electricity,” she explained.

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Council speaker Margaret Arnolds expressed gratitude for Gwanda’s service to the City and acknowledged his contributions during his tenure.

“His commitment to serving the residents of our city has been commendable, and we wish him well in his future endeavours,” she remarked.

She further revealed that they will convene an extra-ordinary council meeting on Friday to elect a new mayor.