‘You were worse than Mayor Thapelo’ – Joburg leadership clash in verbal online battle

Cape Town – Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi and former Johannesburg mayor, now Action SA leader, Herman Mashaba, are entangled in a war of words, as political squabbles continue to play out online.

It all started when Mashaba suggested on Monday that negotiating coalitions and leadership for municipalities in Gauteng would be a “disaster of note” because of Lesufi and the current Johannesburg mayor, Thapelo Amad.

“The Premier of Gauteng’s preferred mayor. Just imagine post-2024 with Panyaza still as a premier, negotiating coalitions and leadership for all municipalities in Gauteng. Disaster of note,” Mashaba said.

Lesufi hit back.

“The attempts to remove me from collective leadership of our movement won’t succeed. Under your leadership after I met and pleaded with you when you were a mayor, you refused a school for the disabled an occupation certificate. You were worse than Mayor Thapelo,” Lesufi posted.

The attempts to remove me from collective leadership of our movement won’t succeed. Under your leadership after I met and pleaded with you when you were a Mayor , you refused a school for the disabled an occupation certificate. You were worse than Mayor Thapelo. https://t.co/cpF27JCNCc

— Panyaza Lesufi (@Lesufi) April 10, 2023

Action SA has filed a vote of no confidence against Amad; the city council’s speaker, Colleen Makhubele; as well as the council’s chair of chairs, labelling Amad as a “puppet mayor” and Makhubele as “dishonest”.

ActionSA’s City of Johannesburg caucus leader, Funzi Ngobeni, said Amad had “repeatedly proven to be woefully ill-equipped and unable to articulate a coherent plan of action and vision for the City”.