Maverick News
‘In 100 days you’ll see a difference’, vows newly elected Johannesburg mayor Thapelo Amad
Thapelo Abubark Amad, whose political party enjoys just three seats in council, was duly elected the Executive Mayor of SA’s richest metro, Johannesburg with over 6-million residents on Friday.
After a long day of council proceedings on Friday, the majority of councillors in Johannesburg voted in favour of Al Jama-ah’s Thapelo Amad to take over as the city’s executive mayor.
The 41- year-old’s election was a formality after he was publicly endorsed by the minority parties bloc comprising the AIC, PA, ATM, ANC, EFF, Al Jama-ah, Cope and the ANC days before the council sat for the 10th ordinary meeting.
Amad went head to head with two other contestants, former Democratic Alliance mayor Mpho Phalatse and ActionSA’s Funzi Ngobeni. A total of 266 councilors were present to cast their votes, Amad received 138 votes, Phalatse 81 and Ngobeni 46 votes.
His election comes just hours after the axing of Phalatse through a motion of no confidence on Thursday. The motion which saw Phalatse face the chop was brought by the African Transformation Movement’s Lubabalo Nogatshu who argued she’d failed to deliver services to the marginalised and poor residents of Johannesburg.
Read more in Daily Maverick: She’s out; she’s back in; she’s out again – Mpho Phalatse removed as Johannesburg mayor
The DA needed the support of the Patriotic Alliance to defeat the motion, but negotiations between the two parties collapsed. The PA is said to have demanded two positions on the Mayoral Committee in Johannesburg and MMC positions in the Ekurhuleni metro — to which the DA did not agree.
Phalatse’s removal comes barely three months after she successfully had a motion of no confidence against her overturned at the Johannesburg High Court.
Before this, Phalatse faced several other motions of no confidence— some failed and some were withdrawn.
Reacting to his defeat, Ngobeni told journalists that ActionSA would rally behind Amad’s ambition to bring about stability in the city.
“Democracy has prevailed, we will be supporting Thapelo Amad because we want stability in the city, that’s what we should all be striving for, therefore if the stability is going to be supported by Amad and the bloc that’s supporting him, we will support them. Of course we are going to exercise our oversight as opposition, we will hold them accountable.”
Meanwhile Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi defended the ANC’s decision to endorse Amad.
“We are of the view that there must be no one that thinks they are big brothers and others are small brothers. There must be no one that thinks that other views of political parties do not count. We have the strong view that everyone’s view counts and everyone’s you must be respected and everyone’s we must be listening to their differences,”
PA President, Gayton McKenzie echoed similar sentiments slamming the DA, accusing them of negotiating in bad faith and undermining small parties in council.
“Big parties don’t need coalition partners, there is no big party. If that was the case, why did they come to our houses at midnight last night (with an offer)`.”
Taking the podium for the first time as the executive mayor, Amad said he was humbled at the opportunity, he also urged councillors to work alongside him in addressing pressing issues which the citizens grapple with.
“Today I humbly request that you all hold my hand as we purposefully unite to address the pressing challenges bedevilling our city. We must accept that as this administration, we will not be able to achieve much if we do not work with broader society. We must foster partnerships and where they exist, we must strengthen them,” he said.
Amad also committed to bringing about stability and service delivery within 100 days.
The newly minted Mayor outlined his priority headlines as service delivery, finances, administrative reforms, Fraud and corruption and community participation
We must be equally mindful of the cries of our people who in all honesty, yearn for basic services. This will be the first priority of this administration. We will seek to make sure that the most basic of services are extended to all the corners of the city.
“I accept the challenges, in 100 days you’ll see a difference,” said Amad.
Speaker of council, Colleen Makhubele of Cope also rallied behind Amad’s election which she dubbed as historic. “This is a very historic moment and we don’t take it lightly.
Makhubele said they would rally behind Amad in a bid to kickstart the city. Should he fail, Makhubele said they would show him the door.
“I want to say and assure the residents of the city that we are going to kickstart the city, we are going to kickstart it come hell or high water…
“One of the priorities is to provide oversight on the executive mayor, if he does not kickstart the city as a speaker with the help of the leaders here. We are going to either kick him out and bring in a mayor that will come in and serve the residents of the city.
“We have so much faith in Him. We know that he can deliver. We’ve seen how he conducts himself in council,” said Makhubele.
Meanwhile the African Independent Congress’ (AIC) Margaret Arnolds said Amad’s appointment was long overdue.
“I’m excited. I can jump out of my skin today. Because after one year, and one month, the minorities have given birth to a mayor. A mayor that will be credible. A mayor that will deliver services, a mayor that will listen to the people and the mayor that will be there for the people.DM
Become an Insider
This doesnt appear to have anything to do with governance failure by Phalatse, but rather power broking by smaller parties, especially the PA who wanted the keys to JHB finances. Take note voters, this is what your vote for small opposition parties gets you – people who will sell their council vote to the highest bidder.
I could not say it better. Take note voters, this is what your vote for small opposition parties gets you – people who will sell their council vote to the highest bidder.
Agree – but I think I would say it slightly more strongly – “Take note voters, this is what your vote for small opposition parties will get you – people who will sell their soul to the highest offer for corruption potential”. We need to vote for parties who will put up people like Mpho Phalatse who will make a difference. And in this case, even votes for ActionSA has got Johannesburg into this mess.
Difference in a 100 days – more decay of roads, water, sewage & electricity reticulation networks and other infrastructure?
Sounds about right, providing he lasts 100 days.
He’ll be gone before his delusional, fabled 100 days are up.
They have likely installed a puppet who will do what the ANC wants. It’s also likely that in exchange, the smaller parties can also “have their time eat”.
What a joke the ANC will be wagging his tail all the way, making sure they keep their nose in the trough.
One solution might be a nominee system for parties below some level. So when ABC registers, they nominate DEF as their nominee for coalition votes if ABC gets less than say 5%. Same applies to DEF party. Then only parties with their own 5% plus the % of the parties that bindingly nominated them determine coalitions. The small guys can have seats and a sat and be heard but their will not be circuses like this.
I can’t help but imagine that behind the scenes the ANC is giggling at how the opposition parties are playing EXACTLY the game that the ANC wants them to.
You are probably right in that the ANC is laughing at the DA and some other opposition parties, because they have been able to adapt to a pro-coalition culture while the DA, who pretended that it is their speciality, did not.
. . . But I have a solution for the instability at local level, and it should be applied at provincial level also if we don’t want the same instability at that level after 2024. It is that the election and removal of mayors and premiers must be subject to the same criteria as that of the State President; after all they also command executives just like the President; and in some cases the local executives are even more important than national government. Firstly, when a mayor/premier gets elected, the person must stop being part of the council or legislature, so the political party can’t remove him/her by kicking the person out as either councillor, MPL or party member because of ideology. Secondly impeachment must be limited, like in the case of the President, to serious violations of the Constitution or the oath of office, or when he/she is not able to execute those duties. Thirdly, just as with the President, a motion of no-confidence or impeachment must first be subjected to a panel of independent experts who will decide if any of the allegations in the motion are valid grounds for the motion. If their report is negative, it is the end of the story. If it is positive, the report must be approved by council/ legislature by TWO-THIRDS of the body. If that is not reached, the motion is defeated. This will force the political parties to get their houses in order; by firstly being responsible in who to elect, and once elected, only to remove the person when really needed.
The constant musical mayor chairs would be a joke if it weren’t so disastrous for the city. Really? A party with 3 seats is able to do this. The trough seekers have absolutely no interest in the chaos their actions cause. There is something very inadequate in a system which allows these absurdities to keep recurring. And big brother ANC couldn’t give a damn about “our people”. It’s about power and money, nothing to do with service delivery. Nothing!
100 days is that how l9ng it takes to broker a new deal ? To lodge a motion of no confidence and change seats on the merry goround at the feeding to trough?
A plaque on all your houses.
Ho hum, here we go again….
@Paul T – You are spot -on. Well said!
2 days already, and no change except a different face smiling at the poverty of those who put you there to fail.
The new Mayor of Johannesburg is a religious leader and his full name Is Abubakr Thapelo Amad. In Turkish this means “highly praised son of a camel”
His first name, Amad is an abbreviation of the name Mohammed and is popular in Arab countries and in Nigeria, Uganda, Libya Egypt and Morocco. We have no information on his parents or where they come from but he is apparently born in Soweto. He is a Sunni Muslim and believes in Sharia Law. He obviously has great funding behind him, as does the Gift of the Givers. An interesting candidate to watch going forward!