The resignation of Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda should be enthusiastically welcomed and, we believe, could not have come sooner.
In a statement released by the city on Tuesday, his departure was described as emanating from political engagements that were largely informed by the new political architecture of governance in the country after the May 29 elections.
His political irrelevance to the structure of the new dispensation is no misfortune as he has demonstrated that he was incapable and, perhaps, uninterested in the plight of the people in the inner city and the metro at large.
He said this week he hopes his story will be one that will inspire “many an African child from our city that against deprivation, isolation, social and political exclusion and with the absence of friends and peers in the corporate and media hierarchy, one can live and rise on the noble cause of changing the conditions of the poor”.
The point Gwamanda conveniently forgets is that it’s never about rising to occupy a position, but how the occupied position is used to improve lives.
At the beginning of his tenure, he was nowhere to be found and the media struggled to have engagements with him. He hid behind the scenes like someone who had no clue what was happening when called to address the media or public.
He failed to show leadership when two months after his election a gas explosion struck Lilian Ngoyi Street (formerly Bree Street), leaving one person dead and 48 others injured. The city manager, Floyd Brink, and the Gauteng government under Panyaza Lesufi stepped in to brief the public about what appeared to be a city on the brink of collapse. It sent a message that the city too, for a while, had no idea what had happened. A year later, the street, one of the busiest and where people commuting into the city catch their public transport, conduct business and reside, is still cordoned off.
What could be inspiring for the “African child”, when under his leadership, 76 people died when a fire ravaged the Usindiso building? Almost a year later, has the city acted on the recommendations of the Sisi Khampepe commission which found that the city is, in fact, liable for the tragedy and should hold the Joburg Property Company to account?
The city, which has had more than eight mayors since 2016, appears to have been on autopilot. With a budget of R83.1bn, many expected much more from the Gwamanda administration than the filth overflowing in the streets, overgrown grass, intermittent water shortages and electricity load-reduction, which appears to be load-shedding by another name. Gwamanda’s departure is, frankly, the end of a sad joke for what is supposed to be the country’s economic powerhouse.
What appeared to be the final straw was the introduction of the contentious R200 surcharge for prepaid electricity users, which seemed like squeezing the paying few while failing to do much about illegal connections generally, but also hijacked buildings that are a fire hazard. This while making no discernible effort to rejuvenate the economy. Hardly the kind of legacy to make an African child proud.
But then what reasonably should we have expected from a mayor who was probably more preoccupied with the fact that he might not finish his term? Gwamanda missed clear opportunities to lead and make Joburg the world-class African city it professes to be. His embarrassing stay as mayor became a heavy burden, even to those who elevated him to the position.
