Joburg mayor Dada Morero is set to meet his embattled predecessor and community development MMC Kabelo Gwamanda on Tuesday after his recent arrest on fraud charges.
“The developments deserve to be handled with a sense of urgency on behalf of the residents of the city to ensure it does not impact on service delivery. I wish to confirm that as a first step I am meeting ... Gwamanda tomorrow [Tuesday] to receive his official report,” Morero said on Monday.
Morero said as a deployee of the ANC in the council, he was guided by his party’s position on “similar matters” and does not expect any less from the ANC’s partners in government. “We can duly confirm that the situation meets the minimum requirements for the step-aside rule to kick in,” he said.
But the Joburg council’s hands seem to be tied over the matter as there are no rules giving authority to it to investigate breaches that may have occurred outside a councillor’s tenure in council.
Call to step aside
Speaker Nobuhle Mthembu, an ActionSA councillor, said the metro was now amending its rules handbook to give the ethics committee such powers. In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Mthembu called on Gwamanda to step aside and urged Morero to remove him as MMC.
The step-aside rule is a resolution taken by the ANC for its officials who are charged with corruption and other serious crimes to voluntarily step aside or face suspension. Though Gwamanda is not an ANC member, his party, Al Jama-ah, is part of the government of national unity (GNU).
Gwamanda was arrested on Friday facing charges of fraud linked to a funeral policy business he ran in Soweto before his political career. He was released on bail. His arrest came after a victim opened a case against him in January, claiming they could not find the company offices to claim their payouts.
When the allegations were brought to our attention, we said people with allegations must open a criminal case, and the law must take its course
— Nobuhle Mthembu, speaker and ActionSA councillor
“When the allegations were brought to our attention, we said people with allegations must open a criminal case, and the law must take its course,” said Mthembu, who expressed concern over the nature of the charges Gwamanda is facing.
“Upon being sworn into council, councillors are required to sign a pledge where they commit to honour and be faithful to the rules and laws of the republic of SA, and must always abide by and obey them in a manner that does not bring harm to the integrity of the municipality,” Mthembu said.
DA Joburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku said that since Gwamanda’s election as mayor, “serious allegations of fraud and deception have hung over [his] head, allegations which the DA raised as early as May 2023.
“Yet despite these warnings, the ANC chose to support him as the mayor of Joburg, dismissing the concerns as mere ‘gossip’,” she said..
“This arrest not only vindicates the DA but exposes the reckless disregard the ANC, along with its coalition partners Al Jama-ah and the EFF, have shown towards the people of Joburg by allowing a deeply compromised individual to hold the city’s highest office and now as MMC [for] community development.
“The DA calls on the ANC and its coalition partners to reflect on the damage they have caused by enabling questionable individuals to lead our great city.”
Gwamanda did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Additional reporting by TimesLIVE
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