Johannesburg - Despite the resignation of the mayor of the City of Joburg, Thapelo Amad, service delivery will continue as normal, said the speaker of council, Colleen Makhubele.
Amad’s resignation was announced on Monday evening, which means that the mayoral committee in the City of Joburg has been dissolved. He faced criticism from the public and some of his coalition partners, who accused him of being unfit for the leadership of the economic hub of the country.
Makhubele said the municipal administrators, the city manager and her office will all be working together to ensure that the city functions accordingly while political processes are under way to choose a new mayor from the ANC-led coalition.
“Services will not be disrupted; those are run by the city manager and all the entities. The only thing that will be disrupted perhaps is council, and all the decisions that perhaps needed council to look at would be delayed a little bit, but the basic services will continue,” Makhubele said.
Makhubele said she appreciated the effort that the outgoing mayor had placed in ensuring the fast-tracking of services, especially to the marginalised communities of the City of Joburg.
“The mayor was courageous and brave to be the first minority mayor in Johannesburg and perhaps in South Africa. He came in when the city was broke and services were disturbed, and he led a great team that was on the ground working. A lot was done in his term, and we thank him for stepping up to the task,” Makhubele said.
The City of Joburg was expected to elect a mayor on May 2 in a council meeting. In the same meeting, ActionSA was expected to bring a motion of no confidence against Makhubele. The party is accusing Makhubele of neglecting her duties as speaker. The ANC-led coalition was expected to defend Makhubele and the chief whip of council in the upcoming motions.
“I am calling on peace as a speaker. We want peace in the City of Johannesburg. We want time and space to be able to present the priorities of the government of local unity. Those that are on the motion of no confidence steroids must stop,” she said.
Meanwhile, the ANC and its coalition partners would use the next few days to debate and discuss who the new mayor of Joburg should be. The opposition bloc in the municipal council was looking at the process with sharp interest, as the next candidate for the mayorship of Joburg would have to raise the bar in order to please all interested parties.
“The City of Johannesburg is quite complex and diverse; there is a lot of vested interest in the city. We need someone with the capacity to lead, a vision for the city, and someone who can articulate that vision. We need someone with experience leading large teams and dealing with investors,” she said.
The Star