ANC in Joburg nominate Jolidee Matongo for city’s mayoral position

THE ANC in Joburg has urged its members to support any mayoral candidate, who is approved by the national executive committee (NEC), for the position as mayor of the city.

The party made the call, following reports of factional battles in the lead up to the nomination of former finance mayoral committee member Jolidee Matongo, former infrastructure MMC Mpho Moerane, and chair of chairpersons Salphina Mulaudzi.

It appears some of the members were unhappy with the ANC regional body’s decision to exclude its deputy secretary Loyiso Masuku, former MMC for health and social development Eunice Mgcina and former MMC for public safety Mally Mokoena in the race for the top post. The excluded had apparent strong ties with the former mayor, Geoff Makhubo, who passed away last month due to Covid-19 related complications.

The nominated three were believed to belong to a faction, allegedly led by the regional secretary Dada Morero.

Now, Joburg’s ANC, in their bid to put out the fires, has appealed to members to support any candidate approved by its national body. The ANC is expected to hold its NEC meeting this weekend, after it was put on hold to enable national leaders to be deployed to KZN to diffuse tensions following the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma last month.

ANC Joburg’s spokesperson Sasabona Manganye said they had a meeting on Monday and resolved to recommend the three nominees to the provincial executive committee (PEC).

Gauteng PEC, under David Makhura, was now expected to make a motivation for the nomination of Matongo at the NEC – at a date yet to be confirmed.

The delay, however, has caused unhappiness in the DA, who are urging the Gauteng MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Lebogang Maile to intervene and force Speaker Nonceba Molwelle to convene a council meeting, which would ensure the appointment of a mayor.

DA’s caucus leader Leah Knott said it had been 26 days since the former mayor of Joburg passed away, and since the Speaker has not responded to their demands for an urgent mayoral election, so that we could finally have political leadership during this crisis.

“We are now escalating the matter to the Gauteng MEC for Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs. There is the danger that, should Joburg continue without a mayor for much longer, the MEC will have the grounds to put the city under administration – an outcome that no one wants,” Knott said.

She said Joburg needed a mayor who could commit to delivering quality services to residents. “There are still areas that are experiencing power outages. Klipfontein has been without power for more than 14 days now …”