Coalition support for Al Jama-ah leader and Joburg mayor Thapelo Amad has wained since he took over from Mpho Phalatse and this week, ActionSA and the Patriotic Alliance (PA) made a resounding call for his axing.
Thapelo Amad could be axed as Joburg mayor
On Tuesday, ActionSA leaders, spearheaded by Herman Mashaba, approached the City of Johannesburg’s council speaker Colleen Makhubele to submit three motions of no confidence, one against her, and two others calling for the axing of Amad and the council’s Chair of Chairs, Lloyd Phillips.
In a following statement, ActionSA caucus leader Funzi Ngobeni blasted Amad as a ‘puppet’ mayor whose incompetence was further exposed during an embarrassing SABC News interview with Sakina Kamwendo about the dilapidated state of Johannesburg.
“Amad has shown his inability to understand the basics of a loan agreement in a television interview…” Ngobeni said.
The Al Jama-ah leader went up against Phalatse and ActionSA’s Ngobeni in what turned out to be yet another dramatic day in the Johannesburg council chambers back in January 2023.
Sure enough, the votes were tallied and Amad strolled to a comfortable win with 138 votes secured, compared to Phalatse’s 81 and Ngobeni’s 46 nods.
However, according to ActionSA, four months into his tenure, “service delivery in Johannesburg has rapidly deteriorated with heaps of rubbish pilling our city’s streets.”
“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,” Ngobeni added.
Council speaker Makhubele’s motion was motivated by her apparent use of 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.”
ActionSA’s sentiments were supported by PA leader Gayton McKenzie, who, in reaction to Amad’s disgraceful interview, doubled down on his intention to break away from his coalition partners in Johannesburg.
