Joburg to appoint first deputy mayor as Dada Morero no-confidence motion postponed

After almost 10 hours of deliberations on Thursday, 29 January, Johannesburg Executive Mayor Dada Morero walked out of the Conny Bapela Council Chambers still in his job, after a motion of no confidence against him was deferred.

The motion, brought by Al Jama-ah councillor and former mayor Kabelo Gwamanda, was postponed after the party requested that it be debated and voted on by secret ballot, citing Rule 18 of the Standing Rules and Orders of Council.

Although it is unlikely the motion will be considered in secrecy, as council rules do not provide for secret ballots in motions of no confidence or removal, nor do they give the speaker the authority to approve one, the party is hoping to secure support from smaller parties as well as the DA, which has previously tabled a similar motion against Morero without success, and, importantly, from a faction within the ANC.

The motion is expected to return to council on a date to be set by Speaker Margaret Arnolds.

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Deputy mayor incoming

The key outcome of the meeting was the adoption of a report that clears the way for the city to appoint its first deputy mayor. This is a new political post that will cost taxpayers more than R1.2-million a year.

The proposal to have a deputy mayor in Joburg dates back to 2023, when the then speaker of council received a letter from the Gauteng MEC for cooperative governance and infrastructure suggesting the city consider appointing a deputy mayor, in line with the Municipal Structures Act, saying the executive mayor’s workload had grown because of rising service delivery pressures, intergovernmental work and oversight duties.

However, the proposal was never tabled because of major leadership changes in both the executive and legislative arms of the city.

The proposal, spearheaded by the ANC, passed on Thursday after a heated exchange in the council chambers, securing 187 votes in favour. Eighty-seven councillors, including those from the DA, EFF and ActionSA, voted against it, while 37 councillors, largely from the smaller parties, abstained.

DA councillor Alex Christians was appalled by the decision. He said most residents continued to suffer under the city’s broken service delivery.

“Since the ANC-led coalition took over, Joburg’s financial and service delivery situation has only worsened, and we have seen the city failing to pay Rand Water; contractors building the Water Tower at Brixton; and most recently, we have seen the failure to pay Pikitup staff lead to services coming to a standstill.

“This only motivates our stance that this position will not serve the residents of Johannesburg right now. Today was a clear indication that position was more important than the people of Johannesburg,” he said.

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Good party councillor Matthew Cook said the council should be cutting back, not adding new political positions, especially with local government elections pending, set to take place between November and January.

“We are operating in a period of political transition, fiscal strain and declining public trust. Good believes that at such a moment, council should be exercising restraint and not expansion.

“The city’s challenges are not rooted in a lack of executive titles. They lie in weaknesses and the cracks that run throughout our administration buildings, the instability and the poor coordination sometimes. Good knows that creating a new political office is not a silver bullet, and on its own, unfortunately, a new position will not resolve any of these problems,” Cook said.

“Not at this stage, let the next council, with a fresh mandate from voters, assess this situation,” he said.

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‘The Tshwane model’

ActionSA’s Marcel Coutriers said the party would support a deputy mayor only if the role was combined with an existing mayoral committee portfolio.

Coutriers appealed to the councillors to instead adopt a similar model to the Tshwane metro.

“In other words, a deputy mayor who also serves as an MMC. The approach achieves three critical objectives. Firstly, it strengthens executive leadership without increasing the burden on the ratepayer. Secondly, it ensures that the deputy mayor has real operational responsibility. And thirdly, it sends a powerful signal to our residents that this council understands their financial pain and is prepared to lead by example,” Coutriers said.

EFF councillor Tabisa Mogapi also rejected the proposal, which she said did not clearly show how the new post would improve service delivery.

“This proposal does not adequately explain how the role of the deputy mayor, as currently presented, will advance these constitutional and legislative obligations. The EFF has repeatedly warned against the expansions or reconfiguration of executive positions without a clear service delivery rationale,” Mogapi said.

The decision to introduce a deputy mayor comes as Johannesburg, with more than six million residents, is already under severe strain, battling tight finances, ageing and failing infrastructure, ongoing service delivery and revenue collection problems and persistent electricity and water supply challenges.

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The ANC will, in the next few days, consult its coalition partners on who to appoint as a deputy mayor. There is a group in support of finance MMC Loyiso Masuku’s candidacy, purely to settle political scores after she defeated Morero at the ANC’s regional conference in December 2025, taking over the top position of regional chairperson.

Traditionally, the ANC’s regional chairperson would be tipped to become the party’s mayoral candidate, and insiders say the motion is aimed at building Masuku’s momentum and possible party mayoral candidate in the elections.

Things have, however, changed, with the ANC’s national office-bearers now having the final say on who becomes a mayoral candidate. DM