‘Different mayor, same issues’ — What you said about the new Joburg mayor

TimesLIVE readers have weighed in on the election of another Johannesburg mayor and the impact this might have on service delivery to residents. 

Last week Al-Jama-ah's Kabelo Gwamanda was elected as the ninth mayor since 2016. He won the election after going up against the DA's Mpho Phalatse and ActionSA's Funzi Ngobeni.

Gwamanda takes over from fellow party councillor Thapelo Amad, who resigned ahead of a motion of no confidence against him.

The election comes as about 475,786 households in Johannesburg were highlighted in a recent municipality's report in need of access to electricity and 237,893 suffering from refuse removal backlogs. 

The municipality’s 2021/22 integrated annual report was presented in council earlier this year and put a spotlight on service delivery problems experienced by residents.

It noted there was backlog of 371,195 on the housing waiting list and 104,591 households needed access to hygienic toilets.

“The housing backlog is a major concern and has been a major focus of the city. The lack of affordable housing options gives rise to informal settlements and slums, forcing many people to live in inadequate conditions,” the report read. 

Some people believe the political roundabout in the metro would not necessarily improve service delivery.

In his election speech, Gwamanda said he was aware of the challenges experienced by residents.

“My priority for this government is to ensure this duty is carried out with a heightened improvement in quality of service delivery.”

While Gwamanda was upbeat, some reader are doubtful of changes.  

Most (50.63%) of TimesLIVE readers believe the election of a new mayor will not bring service delivery changes for residents.

4.91% of readers believe the opposite and 44.46% said they could not wait for the next election.

The debate continued on social media:

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.