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ActionSA welcomes the resignation of Cllr. Kabelo Gwamanda as Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, following a tenure of just over a year that can only be characterised by failure and catastrophic incompetence, with the evidence of the City's downward spiral evident across Johannesburg.

ActionSA is pleased that our intervention has occasioned Gwamanda’s resignation, which we pushed for with urgency, as we could not stand by and allow the City to fall further into disrepair.

Residents of the City of Johannesburg have suffered under a Mayor whose ineptitude and habitual blame-shifting, never self-included despite his unambiguous executive responsibility, have led to a disastrous state of service delivery across the City. 

ActionSA argued from the day of his election that Cllr. Gwamanda, who replaced another disastrous Mayor from Al Jama-ah, was simply not fit for the role and would certainly be unable to meet the demands of the job. One year later, we are regrettably reminded of how accurate our warnings have proven to be.

In the best interest of residents, ActionSA, being the third-largest party in Johannesburg, transparently embarked on an effort to stabilise governance in the City, with our efforts thus far having yielded some relief, with the City now rid of the calamitous mayorship of Cllr. Gwamanda and set commitments to reverse the R200 surcharge heartlessly imposed by City Power on prepaid users. 

At the heart of our fight for the residents, was to ensure the turnaround in key frontline service delivery matters including infrastructure renewal and the rejuvenation of the Inner City. 

Importantly, while the resignation of Cllr. Gwamanda is a welcome first step, rebuilding Johannesburg will necessitate a sustained effort driven by decisive action, a clear plan, and unwavering political will, all of which ActionSA will ensure anchors our every effort as we continue to fight on behalf of the over 6 million residents of our great City.

ActionSA looks forward to the election of a new Mayor, which we are confident will be an improvement on the objectively disastrous tenure of Cllr Gwamanda.

ActionSA will provide continuous updates on developments arising from our efforts to get Johannesburg back on track towards good governance, growth, and prosperity.

Issued by ActionSA COJ Caucus Leader Nobuhle Mthembu