By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
@GettyImages.
ANC Johannesburg regional treasurer Mpho Moerane is poised to be elected the next executive mayor of SA’s richest metro, after being endorsed as a Joburg’s mayoral candidate by the party’s regional and provincial structures.
The country’s biggest budget municipality (it passed a budget of R73.3bn for 2021/2022), which contributes nearly 20% to GDP and about 40% to the economy of Gauteng, was left without a mayor after Jolidee Matongo died in a car accident on September 18.
ANC regional spokesperson Sasabona Mangaye says Moerane was on a list of candidates interviewed by the party’s national leadership.
“When we lost executive mayor Makhubo, we had to engage in a process to nominate candidates who must take over from him. Out of the three candidates there has been rigorous screening processes, which will also include the interviews with the national office bearers. Out of the process of the interviews there have been three candidates.
“Number one was appointed to be the mayor and there was number two and number three. So out of the three candidates Moerane was the number two candidate after the late mayor Joli Matongo.”
The race for a successor come with little more than a month left to the local government elections.
Mangaye says this is the reason why the party will not be able to revisit the same process that they initially embarked on.
“Given the fact that we also don’t have enough time to start the same process that we have engaged on we saw it befitting that we just revisit the same names that were nominated because we nominated the three of them with the understanding that either of them can become the executive mayor.”
Council is expected to convene on Friday, where Moerane will be elected as the new mayor.