Johannesburg’s already-fractious council is heading for another turbulent week as councillors prepare for a two-day sitting on Tuesday and Wednesday that again places mayor Dada Morero’s political future on the line.
The two-day sitting is expected to table a fresh motion of no confidence against him, the third attempt to remove him from office this year. Another motion is said to be aimed at former mayor Thapelo Amad, who now chairs a Section 79 oversight committee. A cluster of smaller parties is sponsoring the motions.
If tabled, this will mark the third formal attempt to remove Morero since his election last year.
The DA last pushed for Morero’s axing in June, citing chronic service-delivery failures. Morero survived that bid, as did chief whip Sithembiso Zungu, whom the DA also wanted removed.
October brought yet another challenge to Morero’s leadership when minority parties, including the UDM, Al-Jama-ah, ATM and AHC, submitted an additional motion to speaker Margaret Arnolds. That earlier motion is also expected to be factored into this week’s deliberations.
The bloc of minority parties accuse Morero of interfering in administrative functions, undermining the work of officials, and failing to act on directives issued by the political management committee (PMC). They argue that the alleged breaches have contributed to the city’s ongoing instability and the slow execution of key service-delivery programmes.
The ANC in Johannesburg has previously dismissed similar accusations as politically motivated attempts to destabilise the coalition government.
Sowetan
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