Johannesburg - The contest for the election of the new mayor of Joburg is heating up, as some ANC councillors have threatened to pull out of the voting process should the provincial leadership of the party endorse an Al-Jama-ah councillor for the position of mayor.
The Star understands that a number of councillors wanted the ANC chairperson in the region to become the next mayor of the City of Joburg.
They had expressed a loss of faith in the EFF-ANC deal to appoint mayors from minority parties. This comes after the Patriotic Alliance (PA), which is part of the ANC coalition in Joburg, campaigned for the resignation of minority mayor Thapelo Amad.
The group of councillors who are against the election of Kabelo Gwamanda as mayor demanded a meeting with the provincial leadership of the ANC.
The Star understands that the matter has been escalated to the national leadership of the ANC. A message had been circulating calling for the ANC caucus to meet outside Luthuli House on Monday to protest the alleged bullying of the ANC caucus by the province.
ANC WhatsApp groups have been abuzz with a faction of the ANC that does not agree with another Al-Jama-ah mayor being chosen as the next mayor of the City of Joburg.
“Comrades, let’s take Dada and put him in his rightful place. If we have to place him through force, we will do so. We cannot put these people, whom we do not know, as mayors; the ANC is the leader of this coalition. These puppet mayors are not helping us,” one of the councillors said.
Sources inside the ANC-led coalition indicated that unity among the minority parties had dissolved over a squabble for the position of mayor and political backstabbing.
“The ANC is the one driving the ship; they are the ones that are deciding who the mayor is, and we as the minorities have to accept their decision,” a source said.
The speaker of the Joburg Municipal Council, Colleen Makhubele, and former MMC Margret Arnolds were also in the contest for the position of mayor. It was still not clear if the EFF would vote for an ANC candidate to be mayor.
“It’s a mess; the UDM has also said it would not vote if the candidate is an Al-Jama-ah candidate,” he said.
Both the ANC in the province and the region declined to comment on the negotiations for mayor in Joburg. The new mayor was expected to be chosen today, but a number of disturbances to that process could be foreseen.
The Star