Joburg Crisis Alliance Calls for Resignation of Executive Mayor

19 July 2024

The Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) makes a public call for the resignation of Councillor Kabelo Gwamanda, the Executive Mayor in the City of Johannesburg. This call is made in the wake of the significant decline in citizen confidence and trust in the leadership of the Executive Mayor and his Mayoral Committee.

Since its establishment in July 2023, the JCA and its convening organisations, namely, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation (AKF), Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), Action for Accountability (A4A), Defend Our Democracy (DOD) and the Johannesburg Inner-City Partnership (JICP), have witnessed an ongoing regression in the quality of services being rendered by the City and its entities, much to the detriment of residents of Johannesburg.

The leadership crisis in the city and the specific failures of the Executive Mayor are reflected in the following recent incidents:

• The arrogant, uncaring and insensitive handling of the electricity surcharge and tariff increase by the City and ongoing widespread electricity outages across the City;

• the contemptuous and disdainful press statement issued by the Executive Mayor labelling Johannesburg residents who raised their concerns about the electricity surcharge as "stooges";

• Intermittent water supplies since 2023 and prolonged water cuts in recent weeks despite public assurances by Joburg Water that water supply is being managed adequately, resulting in street protests in different parts of the city;

• the admission by the MMC Finance that the city needs to loan an amount of R2.5 billion from Agence Franqaise de Dévelopement (AFD) to cover budget shortfalls;

• the virtual collapse of services in terms of road maintenance, cleanliness and the provision of affordable housing; and

• the tragic assassination of a lead investigator into corruption in the city.

The JCA believes that the Executive Mayor and his Mayoral Committee must be held accountable for these and other critical lapses in service delivery to the public. We do not believe that Councillor Gwamanda and his team has the requisite skills and capability to resolve the deepening governance crisis in Johannesburg. Further, the Mayor and his Mayoral Committee seem to lack genuine concern for the well-being of Johannesburg and its residents.

Hence, our call that Mayor Gwamanda must resign and that a new leadership must be installed in the city.

The JCA demands:

the resignation of the Executive Mayor and the Mayoral Committee; a review of the recent pre-paid electricity tariffs; an end to unplanned water cuts and emergency water provision to under-serviced communities; an end to unplanned electricity load reduction;

• decisive and consistent measures in combatting corruption and protecting whistle-blowers and investigators; and open, transparent and proper consultation with civil society, business and labour in the governance of the city.

Our call for change in the leadership of the city is not made in favour of any political party. We hold the view that whoever assumes leadership in the City must be held to account, irrespective of which political party they represent.

The Joburg Crisis Alliance will continue to promote active citizenry for positive change. It therefore calls on civil society organisations, residents' associations, clubs and societies, faith-based organisations and all concerned residents of Johannesburg to gather at the Joburg Metro Centre on Saturday, 27 July 2024 at 10:00am, to demonstrate against the current deteriorating situation and to demand positive change in the city of Johannesburg.

Issued by Joburg Crisis Alliance, 19 July 2024