Morero has full backing of provincial task team, Hope Papo says

Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has the full backing of the ANC's provincial task team (PTT), with its coordinator Hope Papo denouncing claims President Cyril Ramaphosa's intervention could translate into the mayor’s removal. 

In an interview with TimesLIVE Premium, Papo, who was recently appointed alongside Amos Masondo to lead the ANC's task team after the reconfiguration of its provincial structures in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, reiterated the team’s support for Morero during a meeting with Ramaphosa last week. 

Ramaphosa met with the PTT ahead of his visit to the council on Thursday and Friday, where he heard how the province would work with the city's council leaders to expedite service delivery.

“We have full confidence in Dada as mayor, and he needs support from us at a provincial level with the government in the province,” Papo said, arguing the city had deteriorated under the coalition governments that took over from the ANC in 2016.

Papo said Morero was “action-orientated” and had extensive experience from his time in former Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau's office. 

“We said to the president there must be a closer relationship between departments in the province, and the municipality and national departments must also be in the picture,” he said.

He said the ANC would support Morero in his work and that talk of him losing his mayoral chain was unfounded. The PTT would lay down the law to all its deployees to ensure there was no interference in government work.

“We are going to make it clear that public servants report to political principals and not to the ANC. The people who report to the ANC are us, its MMCs and MECs. Those are our deployees, the HODs [heads of department] cannot have a meeting with political leaders of the ANC,” he said.

Rumours emerged that Ramaphosa would make sweeping changes to the Johannesburg executive. Some within the ANC were reported to have called for the presidential interventions to include Morero's removal. 

Morero has been under fire with many calling for his axing as conditions in the city have not improved.  However, the ANC in the region welcomed Ramaphosa's intervention, arguing it was a significant step towards addressing critical service delivery challenges.

We call on all Johannesburg residents to unite in supporting these interventions as we collectively work towards a better, safer and more prosperous city

—  ANC

Ramaphosa visited the city with cabinet members last week and announced he would implement a presidential working group to work alongside Morero's government ahead of the local government elections next year.

Morero requested reinforcements in his attempt to arrest the city’s decline and revitalise it. The president is expected to speed up the strengthening of governance, improve infrastructure and enhance financial sustainability. 

“We fully support this intervention which will stabilise and revitalise Johannesburg and encourage continued engagement to achieve effective and sustainable improvements. We call on all Johannesburg residents to unite in supporting these interventions as we collectively work towards a better, safer and more prosperous city,” the ANC said in a statement. 

In an interview with Sunday Times, Morero said they would present a plan to the presidency team.

“The presidency has not adopted a top-down approach. We are presenting proposed interventions and they are going to indicate how they are going to help us. They might say this is what we think, this is what’s going to help you, we don’t think that one is critical, let’s reshape it in this fashion.

“This relationship is going to be complementary in nature and comprise working together — hence the province is going to form part of the process of rebuilding Johannesburg.”

The ANC said it remained committed to building a Johannesburg that is safe, inclusive and economically vibrant, adding it strongly believes this intervention will help lay the foundation for a stronger and more sustainable city.