ActionSA submits motions of no confidence to end Joburg embarrassment

11 April 2023

ActionSA will today submit motions of no confidence in the City of Johannesburg puppet-mayor Thapelo Amad, the dishonest Speaker Colleen Makhubele and other office bearers who were all appointed through crooked dealings between the ANC’s Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, Panyaza Lesufi, and the EFF.

Mayor Amad, an expedient candidate between the ANC and EFF’s coalition of doom, has repeatedly proven to be woefully ill-equipped and unable to articulate a coherent plan of action and vision for the City of Johannesburg. Most recently, Amad has shown his inability to understand the basics of a loan agreement in a television interview.

Since Amad’s election, service delivery in Johannesburg has rapidly deteriorated with heaps of rubbish pilling our city’s streets, while ANC members of the mayoral committee (MMC) - such as Jack Sekwaila - wanting to blame homeless people for the city’s mess instead of taking responsibility themselves.

Meanwhile, Speaker Makhubele used ‘ill health’ as an excuse not to address her duties in the City of Johannesburg Council but was spotted in the City of Tshwane on the same day where she is seen attending to internal COPE party squabbles. This is simply inexcusable, and the people of Johannesburg deserve better.

While political differences may have characterised the tenure of previous Mayors and Speakers it would be safe to say that residents and businesses are embarrassed by what the ANC and EFF have served up to lead the economic hub of our country.

ActionSA is firm in our belief that the people of Johannesburg voted for change in the 2021 municipal elections by drastically reducing the ANC’s majority, and the mayor, speaker and other office bearers’ elections were due to back-handed dealings by ANC’s Gauteng Province Chairperson Panyaza and the EFF.

When Panyaza Lesufi’s ANC and EFF could not come to terms about who leads Johannesburg, they were willing to force on the residents of Johannesburg someone patently not fit to lead Johannesburg. Amad and Makhubele did not elect themselves with their 3 seats collectively, they were elected by a compromise deal in which it appears the residents of Joburg are being asked to make the biggest compromise. This is why ActionSA is taking action.

The motions of no confidence will serve at the next council meeting on 25 April 2023, and we stand ready to litigate against any effort by Makhubele to protect herself and her newfound political allies from these motions of no confidence. ActionSA will start with engaging with all other parties in the Council to ensure that the ANC and EFF are removed from exerting any further control on Johannesburg and we are confident of our prospects of success.

We believe that to fix South Africa, we must remove the ANC and their proxies from power, and we will collaborate with all like-minded political parties to achieve that goal - and to restore good governance and quality service delivery to Johannesburg.

ActionSA will not give up on the people of Johannesburg, and our commitment to fix Johannesburg, through a multi-party coalition that provides ethical and effective leadership at all levels of government.

Issued by Funzi Ngobeni, ActionSA CoJ Caucus Leader, 11 April 2023