Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero says he is confident the motion of no confidence tabled against him in council will fail, asserting the ANC-led coalition holds the numbers and remains united despite internal criticism.
The motions of no confidence against the mayor, chief whip Sithembiso Zungu and speaker Nobuhle Mthembu have been approved by the programming committee and are scheduled for debate this week.
Morero said the ANC and its partners in coalition will vote against the motion.
“The motion is coming tomorrow [Wednesday] and we hope to elevate the motion so it becomes the first item in council. We have taken a decision collectively with the government of local unity and our partners in the coalition that we will vote against the motion.
“So the motion will be voted against by the collective of the coalition, which is constituted by 141 [seats]. You are required to have 136 seats to defeat the motion. So the motion will be defeated,” he said.
The DA is the second-largest party in the 270-seat Johannesburg council and sits on the opposition benches.
The DA filed the motions against the mayor and the chief whip, while Al Jama-ah filed the one against the speaker.
DA Johannesburg leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku said the city’s executive had failed the residents of the city.
Morero dismissed claims of unconstitutional appointments in the city.
So the motion will be voted against by the collective of the coalition, which is constituted by 141 [seats]. You are required to have 136 seats to defeat the motion. So the motion will be defeated.
— Dada Morero, Joburg mayor
“We took the matters to council and council approved the acting city manager. Subsequently, a letter was written to the MEC of co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) as required by law. We have done what is required,” he said.
This is after the DA called for the MEC of Cogta to rectify certain positions in the city as having reached their expiry date, such as the one of acting CEO Tshepo Makola.
He accused the opposition of deliberately mischaracterising lawful processes for political mileage.
“The DA is in election mode. Everything we do will be opposed because they’ve declared their campaign for 2026. They raise issues that are already being processed lawfully and claim we’re breaking the law. We’re simply following council processes,” Morero said.
Turning to criticism of the city’s debt and frequent borrowing, Morero defended the use of loans, as the city advertised a R750m loan in April and the recent approval of a R2.5bn loan, with the DA raising concerns of the loans being used for salary payments.
“We are among the few cities that support and fund capital expenditure. Our capital expenditure is at R8bn. We get money from grants, put in our own money and raise borrowings — that’s how we fund infrastructure.
“We are not taking out loans for revenue gaps. We’ll continue to collect, and at the same time we have to fund our capital expenditure. If it means we must do it through borrowings, we will,” he said.
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