Cape Town – The future of the newly elected Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda is in question after the Democratic Alliance (DA) called for him to account for accusations he is a scammer.
Gwamanda, an Al Jama-ah councillor, was elected on Friday.
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 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.
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According to eNCA, the DA in the city wants him to come clean and answer questions about the disappearance of money from investors.
But Al Jama-ah has maintained that Gwamanda is a competent candidate for mayor and his losing competitor, Mpho Phalatse, is on a coordinated campaign to smear the newly elected mayor’s name. Party leader Ganief Hendricks said the allegations about the mayor are frivolous, News24 reported.
“The former mayor is playing very dirty politics with the people of Joburg. The mayor [Gwamanda] has been vetted. She is just trying to create lies because she was rejected as the mayor of Joburg,” the report quoted Hendricks as saying.
According to Times Live, Hendricks said the mayor was thoroughly vetted.
“The media now wants to aid and abet the DA to push this narrative to undermine the executive mayor, to undermine Al Jama-ah and the collective. They are not going to succeed,” he said.
Speaking on Newzroom Afrika, the former mayor said she was asked to intervene and assist people who want their money back.
“I am not the one laying the charges. The people who were affected are the ones who must lay charges,” she said.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
