Johannesburg - Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda will face a motion of no confidence next week.
The motion was tabled by ActionSA, which has accused council speaker Colleen Makhubele of protecting the “fragile ANC-EFF coalition”.
Nobuhle Mthembu, the caucus leader in the city, said the council’s programming committee had tabled ActionSA’s motion of no confidence against Gwamanda on Tuesday. The motion would be tabled at the next ordinary council meeting, set to take place on August 31.
“Since his election three months ago, ActionSA has maintained that Gwamanda is a puppet mayor who faces criminal charges for running a dodgy funeral scheme and is there to do the bidding of the ANC-EFF coalition,” Mthembu said.
She said this has been proven by a series of telling incidents that contributed to frosty relations between the mayor and Premier Panyaza Lesufi.
“This was proven correct over and over again as the ANC-EFF coalition shielded Gwamanda from media enquiries, and Gwamanda was sidelined by Premier Lesufi when the Johannesburg explosion took place.”
Gwamanda has been serving since April when Thapelo Amad, his colleague from Al Jama-ah, resigned a day before a motion of no confidence was brought against him. Amad had been serving since January.
ActionSA brought the motion after a criminal case was opened against Gwamanda for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme that defrauded Soweto residents.
According to media reports, Gwamanda ran a scheme called Ithemba Lama Afrika Funeral Business, which allegedly swindled money from people.
On Tuesday, the motion was passed for council to consider the matter.
Mthembu said a motivation for the motion was sent to the planning committee in June.
“The executive mayor has corruption charges against him. He was running a funeral plan without being registered. We don’t believe he is an ethical leader. How can he be responsible for an R80.9 billion city budget?
“The mayor is not fit for business. MMC for Economic Development Nomoya Mnisi is also accused of trying to get the City of Joburg to pay for an ANC Youth League event. It shows what calibre of leadership we have in the city,” she said.
The Star