Mmusi Maimane defends Joburg mayor amid Jolidee Matongo 'nationality' criticism
One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane has lashed out at xenophobic comments made against newly-elected Johannesburg mayor Jolidee Matongo.
The announcement of Matongo as the new mayor was met with calls for him to go after he reportedly revealed in his acceptance speech before the city council on Tuesday that he is a son of a Zimbabwean immigrant.
Maimane said Matongo was born in SA, adding that critics should engage him on his ideas rather than on his perceived “questionable nationality”.
“You can engage people on their ideas, on their track record of delivery as leaders, on their political choices. But xenophobia, that’s not acceptable. Not today or any other day,” Maimane tweeted on Wednesday.
Attempts by TimesLIVE to get further comment from Maimane were unsuccessful at the time of publishing this story. Any comment will be included once received.
City of Joburg speaker Nonceba Molwele clarified in a media briefing on Tuesday that Matongo is not a foreign national.
“There's a perception out there that the executive mayor is not a citizen. I want to put it into perspective that the executive mayor has been born and bred in the country, in Johannesburg in particular,” said Molwele who also explained Matongo's struggle credentials.
“At an early age, he fought for the liberation of our people. He has been in different structures that fought for the liberation of the citizens and the nation of SA. He has been in the youth structures, he has served. He is not a migrant, he is born of a migrant, as he said that he is a son of a migrant.”
Molwele also explained that Matongo's father was a legal migrant.
The mayor said his father was buried at the Avalon cemetery.
Matongo is the former MMC for finance in the metro and was elected unopposed to replace Geoff Makhubo, who succumbed to complications related to Covid-19 last month.
Maimane was not the only one to come to Matongo's defence.
Here are some of the responses online to the backlash over his appointment:
The son of a South African woman cannot hold a leadership position in South Africa??? You guys hate black woman that much 😩#WeRejectMayorOfJHB pic.twitter.com/iG71JVQG96
— Lone Ranger 🚶🏾 (@Siseko_12) August 11, 2021
They have started hashtags, basically fighting over who is more South African
— Master of the West (@DelightJMabiza) August 11, 2021
Own it, he is a citizen of South Africa as protected by the Constitution which also protects Boers who arrived in 1652
He was mothered by a South African mom, embrace yo Obama#WeRejectMayorOfJHB
#WeRejectMayorOfJHB
— Sello Mamadi (@David45080634) August 11, 2021
This guy was born in South Africa . His mom was a South African... You were busy sending condolences to Shona furgerson who is born in Botswana but not south African... you're hypocrite pic.twitter.com/vEprKr4HLY
It is only in South Africa where a bricklayer from Limpopo thinks a doctor from Zimbabwe has taken their job: #WeRejectMayorOfJHB pic.twitter.com/ZpmtCqDale
— MutovoW (@MutovoW) August 11, 2021
The reaction that we expected from the xenophobes has finally come, they argue that Matongo born and bred in Soweto is Zimbo because of his father. What kind of people are these that are full of hatred, I want to hear the good people defend the Mayor. #WeRejectMayorOfJHB pic.twitter.com/2Cjth4Xm5Z
— Phakama Mthwakazi 🇿🇼 🇿🇦 🇸🇿 (@PhakamaMthwaka1) August 11, 2021