Gauteng – Jolidee Matongo – the man nominated by the ANC to replace former city of Joburg mayor Geoff Makhubo who died from Covid-19 related complications last month – has his sights on retaining the ruling party’s coalition partners in the municipality.
The ANC is involved in a government of local unity (GLU) with Cope, the Inkatha Freedom Party, Al Jam-ah, the United Democratic Movement and the African Independent Congress (AIC).
Some of the coalition partners during Makhubo’s tenure occupied senior positions in the executive.
ANC Joburg regional secretary Dada Morero on Tuesday announced that his party would continue with that relationship.
Morero said the ruling party continues to enjoy good working relations with coalition partners in the Government of Local Unity adding that the relations were based on agreements previously made between the partners.
“The ANC will therefore still vote with coalition partners and the party agreements between us and our partners will be retained as they were. We know, value and respect their commitment to service delivery and as such, we are confident that our common interests of stability, service delivery and development will triumph.”
He made the commitment before the special council meeting to fill the post of the executive mayor.
“It has been a difficult reality for us as the ANC coming to terms with the unfortunate passing of our regional chairperson, as much as it has been for his family and close friends. Comrade Geoff was a seasoned cadre of our movement and an excellent public servant who was dedicated to his work as the leader of our city,” Morero said.
He said: “The experience, expertise and skills that he possessed was evidently a breath of fresh air in Johannesburg when he took over as the executive mayor in 2019 after a destructive period of Mr Herman Mashaba's administration where there was clear lack of not only service delivery. Comrade Jolidee Matongo has served both the ANC and CoJ (city of Joburg) selflessly for an innumerable number of years and has demonstrated unquestionable commitment to the well-being of the city and it's residents.
“He is a tried and tested cadre of our movement who started participating at a tender age of 13, during the times when it was not fashionable to do so. He first joined the Soweto Student Congress and the Congress of South African Students (Cosas), and was part of the struggles that his generation fought hence to-date, he is relatable to the struggles of young people having been active from a young age.”
Matongo has served as the regional head of communications in the ANC for 8 years and has been part of the regional executive committee for the past 10 years.
He also holds various qualifications from different institutions including a Diploma in Public Management, Post Graduate degree in Public Management from Unisa, Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Milpark Business School and he is currently pursuing his masters degree in Public Management with Mancosa.
Matongo served as an ANC PR Councillor in 2016 and and was appointed MMC of Finance in 2019.
baldwin.ndaba@inl.co.za
Political Bureau