The ANC’s mayor of Johannesburg Dada Morero is facing a revolt from his own coalition partners, who are now preparing to axe him.
Calling him a “narcissist” and ”difficult to work with”, the disgruntled parties say they have reached a point of no return.
A political management committee met in Melrose on Tuesday afternoon, where coalition parties that are propping up the ANC in the city said they have submitted a no-confidence motion against Morero.
“This is not a media stunt. This motion is submitted by parties in government and not opposition parties, which shows you how serious we are. This motion must be carried until it sees the day in council.”
The motion is reported to have been submitted to the speaker’s office on Monday, proposed by Al Jama-ah’s Kabelo Gwamanda and seconded by the United Democratic Movement’s Yongama Zigebe.
According to an insider, the minority bloc expressed its dissatisfaction with the mayor’s conduct within the coalition.
“The current mayor is a narcissist and self-centred. He is consistently and actively acting outside the decisions of the collective. We are the ones who have deployed him to hold the reins of power. He assumes that the ANC has won elections and does not even put the best interests of residents first, only his own.”
However, they insist that their motion is not a declaration of war against the ANC as a party, but they aim to get rid of Morero.
The Kunene matter was so heated that it needed the national leadership of the ANC and Patriotic Alliance to intervene. The issue of the city manager has dragged on, with the mayor resorting to calling in Fikile Mbalula to help him delay the process in the previous council.
— Political management committee insider
“He is a self-destructive individual. The principle on the table is that we still want to hold the government, but the ANC must give us another person. We still want to be in a coalition led by the ANC. If they want to go against that, then it might be time for us to reset the button.”
“To show that this motion is not malicious, we did not go caucus in corners, plotting to remove him. We went into a formal meeting as coalition partners with the ANC present and registered the fact that we have submitted a motion against the mayor on this basis.
“It is now a PMC discussion. Those who have raised issues internally have understood where we are coming from and expressed that they will support this motion. It was only the ANC that couldn’t comment because the mayor comes from them.”
Another source described the mood in the meeting, saying “it was fireworks there”.
“Minorities informed us that they have submitted this motion of no confidence. We also spoke about the issue of Floyd Brink, which was highly debated. We were dealing with the council agenda, and the item of HR reports was not even on the agenda.
“We demanded that they place this report and propose it in council; the report must be tabled. They are tired of Dada [Morero], people are not happy, but we don’t want the coalition to collapse. But they are giving the ANC an option to give us somebody else, or they will embarrass them.”
One contention is the delay with the reinstatement of transport MMC Kenny Kunene, as well as the current debate on the appointment of former city manager Floyd Brink as per the recommendation report.
“The Kunene matter was so heated that it needed the national leadership of the ANC and Patriotic Alliance to intervene. The issue of the city manager has dragged on, with the mayor resorting to calling in Fikile Mbalula to help him delay the process in the previous council.
“For example, no-one from the coalition can explain to you what the purpose of that bomb squad is. Everything he has done, he has done it alone.”
The Sunday Times reported this week that ANC secretary-general Mbalula has been accused of interference in the affairs of the City of Johannesburg after issuing political instructions on who should be appointed as the city’s new municipal manager.
After a year-long recruitment process, a report on the appointment process meant to be presented to the council was rescinded at the eleventh hour this week. This followed a rushed meeting at the ANC’s Luthuli House head office before the council sitting, after Mbalula summoned the party’s Gauteng provincial and Johannesburg regional leadership.
Previously, the council convened a closed in-committee meeting at which Morero presented a recommendation to the council to halt the appointment process for the post of city manager and investigate the leak of the recommendation report, saying it could have compromised the integrity of the process.
Morero later withdrew that proposal.
Morero, who heads the ANC in the region, said the motion had allegedly not yet reached the office of the speaker, adding he will “respond once it is officially registered with the speaker’s office”.
ANC regional coordinator Sasabona Manganye said his party is working on a statement that will be released in due course to comment on the matter.
The PMC resolved that the contentious report on the city manager post must be tabled in the next ordinary council meeting this Thursday.
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