Cape Town – Al Jama-ah councillor Kabelo Gwamanda was on Friday elected as the new mayor of the City of Johannesburg.
He replaced his party counterpart Thapelo 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 the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) Mpho Phalatse and ActionSA’s Funzi Ngobeni received 68 and 59 votes respectively.
According to News24, in his acceptance speech, he said he was prepared to serve the residents of Joburg, adding that his nomination was God’s will and he felt a sense of duty to take on the role.
“It is not a mere title of glamour, prestige, celebrity status that most of us like to believe,” the report quoted Gwamanda as saying.
[WATCH] Newly elected mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Kabelo Gwamanda, announces his mayoral committee members. #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/EMGhUCoaUz
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) May 5, 2023
EWN said he was elected into the position by the backing of the ANC, EFF, the Patriotic Alliance and other minority parties.
The ANC said it believed Gwamanda was more than capable to hold the top office of a city that operates on a R70 billion budget, the report said.
He will be inaugurated next week.
According to Business Day, DA Gauteng chair Fred Nel characterised Gwamanda as the “ANC-EFF puppet mayor”, saying his election “confirms the destructive intent of the ANC-EFF-PA doomsday coalition to destabilise service delivery in Gauteng and loot and leech while residents languish”.
“Today could have been a turning point for the people of Johannesburg had Phalatse won and reinvigorated the massive task of getting Johannesburg back on track,” Nel said.
“But residents of the city, and people across the country, will see in today’s results the crystallisation of the political choice facing all of us: a future of DA-led delivery or a future of ANC-EFF failure.”
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Picture: Twitter/@CityofJoburgZA
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
