Mayor Amad potentially incriminates himself on SABC TV regarding loan

11 April 2023

In a recent interview, the Mayor of the puppet-led administration in the City of Johannesburg, Thapelo Amad, indicated his personal involvement in procuring a R9.5bn loan for the City. He has also indicated that it’s a done deal. We note his subsequent denial but his original statement must be taken at face value and must be investigated.

The Executive Mayor has no business getting involved in these kinds of administrative processes. This is criminal and requires investigation. The DA caucus in Johannesburg will ensure that this instance of corruption is uncovered and dealt with.

Section 160(2)(d) of the Constitution prohibits anyone being delegated the authority to commit Council to any loan. In this case, the Council has no knowledge of such a loan and the raising of this loan cannot bypass council processes.

The Executive Mayor is in way over his head and he should have allowed city officials to manage administrative processes in line with relevant legislation and the Constitution. He made his statement on the nation’s public broadcaster. At worst, he has potentially committed an act of crime, at best he is unfit to hold office.

In a further development, the Council has advertised for comment a loan of R1.83bn from an identified source. Again, should this be a done deal, the required processes have been bypassed. The DA will also demand an investigation into this matter.

When our Multi-Party Government was ousted in January, we were interrupted in the process of rebasing the budget. We had identified and were doing away with the fat, and making the City’s budgets more realistic given the current economic climate.

This type of loan is thus an unnecessary burden on Johannesburg ratepayers, who unacceptably have not yet even been consulted on this. Instead of borrowing more money we should cut back on unnecessary expenditure.

The DA will urgently initiate and support legal, reasonable, and democratic efforts to hold this out-of-his-depth ANC-EFF puppet Executive Mayor accountable. The residents of Johannesburg deserve prudent, competent, and honest government. And the DA will deliver this.

Issued by Cllr Mpho Phalatse, DA Johannesburg Caucus Leader, 11 April 2023