You can see how the ANC in Gauteng would prefer Al Jama-ah’s Kabelo Gwamanda not to go off-piste. When the ventriloquist-dummy-cum-Joburg-mayor decided to speak for himself this week, the result was unmitigated disaster. Answering a question from eNCA’s Heidi Giokos about potential unrest in the city, Gwamanda promptly blamed “journalists like you”. Then he tried to walk it back — by sidestepping into a mire of incoherence. “The manner in which certain questions are posed insinuating that they speak on behalf of the collective is the matter that was brought to my attention.” That was his response to a question about the State Security Agency’s red flag around unrest in the metro.
You almost feel sorry for the gormless Gwamanda, being as he is such an obvious front for more powerful political interests. Almost. But his tenure has been a majestic failure, from mostly hiding away from the public, to hiding behind Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi after the explosion on Lilian Ngoyi Road and the fire at the Usindiso building in Albert Street, to being nowhere during the water crisis. The less said about his response to the R200 electricity surcharge the better.
In short, in his one year in office he has distinguished himself by his performative incompetence.
Not that you’d think that from his party’s response. Al Jama-ah leader Ganief Hendricks told SAfm this week how Gwamanda’s mayorship has been praised by the ANC, EFF and Patriotic Alliance (PA).
Still, look at the inexorable slide into decay of one of South Africa’s once-great cities and you’ll be happy to hear that Gwamanda seems to be joining the revolving door of mayors in the metro (five since 2022, in case you’re keeping count). ActionSA is set to work with the ANC in Gauteng’s metros — and one of the first items on the agenda is to rid the city of the man who’s little more than an ill-fitting suit. In return for ActionSA’s support — an attempt to stabilise the metro, it says — the party will secure the speaker position in the Joburg council and other key legislative posts. The aim is apparently to leverage its position in the legislature to become a “constructive opposition”, working with the ANC on an issue-by-issue basis.
It’s an interesting proposition — and one can’t help but wonder if it’s tied to the increasing tension between the ANC and EFF in the Gauteng metros. The parties that agreed to work together to unseat the DA in key municipalities appear to be on the outs after Ekurhuleni’s ANC mayor, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, canned finance MMC Nkululeko Dunga of the EFF. The EFF in turn refused to support the ANC’s plan for a R2.5bn loan for Joburg and nixed the city’s budget until its demands were met for more funding in one of the portfolios it controls. Go figure.
One of the first items on the agenda is to rid the city of the man who’s little more than an ill-fitting suit
Depending on the extent of ActionSA’s support, the ANC may no longer need the EFF for the big issues; the two parties would together hold 135 of the 270 seats in the council. Add in the PA, IFP (also apparently in negotiations with the ANC) and minority parties, and that’s an easy majority. Goodbye Gwamanda, hello Dada Morero (again). And bring on that R2.5bn loan that ActionSA previously rejected as “costly”.
Enter the flip-floppers
None of the parties comes out of these shenanigans looking as if it holds too much of a moral line. The ANC has flip-flopped around the EFF before. First, by continuing a working agreement with a party that political head David Makhura called a “proto-fascist party run dictatorially” and one “embedded in corrupt practices”, according to a document reportedly seen by Daily Maverick last year. And now — all protestations to the contrary — there’s a chance it could jettison its partner as tensions ramp up.
Then there’s ActionSA and the ANC. As TimesLive reported at the weekend: “ActionSA vowed while electioneering that it would never work with the ANC and that South Africa would become a failed state if the ANC was not removed from power.” Now, apparently, the politics have changed dramatically enough to warrant a quick backtrack. And if the ANC is corrupt? Well, other parties are corrupt too ...
At the same time, little has been said about ActionSA’s U-turn on the R2.5bn loan.
The EFF, of course, changes its mind faster than the MK Party changes leadership. Party leader and Xi-in-Chief Julius Malema is claiming the EFF has no agreement with any parties in the metros, but that it will support the ANC against the DA. Only, this same party previously took the DA’s side against the ANC in Joburg and Nelson Mandela Bay. The cognitive dissonance is writ large.
As for the other metros: we’ll see how that shakes out once the Joburg machinations are complete. It’s clear that ActionSA wants the speaker position in both Ekurhuleni and Tshwane, where it says it was robbed of the role. Time will tell what it will bargain to get that. While ActionSA as recently as the weekend decried an ANC-sponsored no-confidence motion against mayor Cilliers Brink, it’s uncertain how it will square its co-operation with its antipathy.
Of course, expecting the departure of Gwamanda to be a panacea for Joburg’s ills would be delusionary — and ActionSA should know this. The man should never have been thrust into mayoral office; he’s shown zero sign of leadership and no aptitude for politics in his year in power. But he’s been there as a puppet for an ANC-led administration. Don’t forget that when he’s gone, those pulling the strings will still be in charge.
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