Johannesburg — Former mayor of Johannesburg Thapelo Amad has come to the aid of his successor Kabelo Gwamanda and asked for the fraud allegations brought forward by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to be probed.
The newly elected mayor’s future is in question after the DA called for him to account for accusations he is a scammer.
Gwamanda, an Al Jama-ah councillor, was elected last Friday.
He replaced Amad who resigned on April 24, a day before he was due to face a no-confidence vote in council.
Gwamanda was voted into power with a whopping 139 votes, while Phalatse and ActionSA’s Funzi Ngobeni received 68 and 59 votes respectively.
He received the backing of the ANC, EFF and minority parties for him to win the position.
Mere days into the position, Gwamanda is being accused of fraud.
It is alleged Gwamanda, through his entity iThemba Lama Afrika, scammed innocent residents into investing in a funeral/investment scheme. However, the investors were left high and dry when it was time to claim their benefits.
However, Gwamanda denied the allegations.
The DA threatened to open a criminal case if Gwamanda did not come forward to address the allegations within 48 hours from Saturday.
The DA’s Mpho Phalatse says new Joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda is a swindler and cannot be trusted.#KayaNews #KabeloGwamanda NPM pic.twitter.com/wEPyYn1Qei
— Kaya 959 News (@KayaNews) May 6, 2023
In a letter to council speaker Colleen Makhubele, Amad wrote that a full investigation needed to be conducted.
“These public attacks on … Gwamanda and misrepresentation of his business affairs, which were staged by [DA councillor Mpho] Phalatse, violated his rights to human dignity and to be heard through a properly constituted process,” TimesLIVE quoted Amad as saying.
“[Until we know whether there is any substance to the allegations] against councillor Gwamanda, his right to human dignity and right to be heard warrant full recognition and protection.”
“In addition, we need to know whether the staged public attacks of Phalatse on Gwamanda’s person and misrepresentation of his private affairs has not violated his rights and brought the office he holds into serious disrepute, and whether in so doing, she did not contravene the provisions of section 2(a)(b) of the code of conduct for councillors through her acts of political expediency and opportunism,” the reported quoted him as saying.
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
