By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Photo Credit: Michael Bega.
African National Confress (ANC) councillor Dada Morero has been elected as the executive mayor of Johannesburg during a special council meeting held in the municipality on Friday.
Morero replaces embattled former mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, who resigned this week having been forced to by his coalition partners in the ANC.
He was contested by the Democratic Alliance (DA) Belinda Echeozonjo, who received 60 votes from her caucus.
Morero received 189 votes from various political parties including their new coalition partners ActionSA.
Morero, having served as the city’s finance MMC in Gwamanda’s cabinet, ascends to the mayoral post for the second time after a short-lived stint at the helm last year.
Morero, currently the ANC Johannesburg regional chairperson, was removed as mayor in October 2022 after the DA went to court to dispute his election. The court found in the DA’s favour declaring his election unconstitutional.
On Tuesday 13 August, the ANC Johannesburg regional office said the city will be governed by a broad coalition representing 192 seats of the 270-seat council.
The ANC has 90 seats, and its government of local unity will include the EFF (29 seats), possibly Action SA (44), the Patriotic Alliance (8), IFP (7) and a host of minor parties, including Al Jama-ah.
Fullview learnt ActionSA’s Herman Mashaba met with the ANC during the break to finalise the conditions for voting with the ANC, specifically that the Speaker, Margaret Arnolds, be replaced with an ActionSA speaker.
Arnolds, outgoing Speaker of the Council, congratulated and expressed confidence in Morero’s leadership abilities.
“Cllr. Morero has demonstrated unwavering dedication to the people of Johannesburg. And I am confident that his leadership will bring about the positive change our city needs, “said Arnolds.
“The challenges our city faces are vast, but with strong, united leadership, I believe we can overcome them. I encourage all councillors and city officials to support Mayor Morero. As he embarks on his mission to uplift our communities and improve the lives of all Johannesburg residents, “she added.
Arnolds said she was looking forward to working with Morero and the council on the city’s transformation.
“It has been an honour and privilege to serve the City of Johannesburg in this capacity, and I am proud of what we have accomplished together,” she said.
Morero sang Christian songs as he was about to make his acceptance speech.
“I should have done this during my first acceptance speech in September 2022; maybe I would have stayed longer than 25 days,” he said.
“We will push this carriage until 2026,” he said.
The only changes to the executive are Gwamanda as Community Development MMC and Arnolds as Finance MMC.
Meanwhile DA renewed its call for a motion to dissolve the city council rather than electing a new mayor.
DA’s caucus leader, Echeozonjoku, argued that the council should rather be dissolved.
“Given the merry-go-round of mayors, who have tried and failed to hold together Johannesburg’s unwieldy and ungovernable coalitions, it is time to recognise that the 2021 local election delivered such a fragmented result that it has proved almost impossible to put together a workable government.
“When this kind of impasse arises in other democracies, a solution is often found in giving voters the chance to rectify the situation in a new election.”
Echeozonjoku said Johannesburg residents are the ones suffering from a decline in service delivery, with many lacking access to basic services like water, electricity, and refuse removal.
“When a city can no longer deliver basic services, the province is obliged to intervene. However, placing Johannesburg under the administration of an ANC-run province will not solve the problem.
“The only viable solution is to dissolve the council and return power to the people who live in the city, allowing them to elect a new council that will be more responsive to residents.”
She added: “For a city where roads are collapsing into sinkholes, where water and power outages, as well as refuse pileups, have become the norm, time has run out for political games that come at the expense of residents.