Gwen Ngwenya lambastes Herman Mashaba over new mayor comments

The DA's former head of policy, Gwen Ngwenya, has lambasted former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba for his statement, after the election of the ANC’s Geoff Makhubo as his replacement.

In his statement, Mashaba said the election of an allegedly corrupt Makhubo, reportedly voted in by some DA councillors rather than their own candidates, “demonstrates why” he had to resign from the party.

“The DA of today is clearly not the DA that I joined — not when they support an allegedly corrupt person,” Mashaba said.

Ngwenya hit back at Mashaba on Twitter, saying his statement was rich, especially coming from a “man who grew cosy with VBS looters”.

Ngwenya also said, though it was “disappointing” that three out of the 104 DA councillors allegedly voted for Makhubo, it “hardly signals a sea change”.

“The challenge for SA is that 2 of the 3 largest parties are riddled with corruption. Meaning EFF or ANC, it’s a deal with the devil,” she said.

Meanwhile, Makhubo has denied allegations that he benefited from conflicts of interest and corruption.

Speaking at media briefing on Thursday, where he outline his vision for the city, Makhubo vowed to “fight corruption, saying that he is committed to dealing with corruption and wrongdoing in the City of Johannesburg”.