No-confidence motion against Joburg mayor an opportunistic power grab – ANC

The African National Congress (ANC) has come out to defend its Johannesburg mayor, Dada Morero, amid reports that several coalition members are submitting a motion of no confidence against him.

The ANC called it “nothing more than a desperate and opportunistic attempt by fringe political actors seeking relevance at the expense of service delivery and stability.”

The motion was proposed by Al Jama-ah Councillor Kabelo Gwamanda and was seconded by the United Democratic Movement’s Yongama Zigebe.

These parties submitting the motion are UDM, Al Jama-ah, the African Transformation Movement (ATM) and the African Heart Congress. 

The minority parties are unsatisfied with the mayor’s conduct. They say this follows a sustained breakdown of governance, administrative capture and political interference in the City’s operations.

“Under Mayor Morero’s tenure, Johannesburg has experienced one of its most difficult periods of administrative instability and service delivery collapse,” the MGP said.

The most recent tensions in the GLU come from Morero’s failure to appoint a City Manager, as well as the delay in reinstating MMC of Transport Kenny Kunene. 

“For more than a year, the city has operated without a permanent city manager, in direct violation of Section 54A of the Municipal Systems Act, due to deliberate stalling and interference by the Executive Mayor.”

The Johannesburg council met on 23 October for the express purpose of discussing appointing Floyd Brink as city manager. 

According to Marcel Coutriers, the ActionSA Johannesburg Caucus Leader, the meeting turned into three hours of “political gimmicks, flawed processes and indecisiveness.”

Ultimately, the appointment of a city manager was withdrawn from the session. Coutriers said that the city’s failure to appoint a city manager undermines its ability to perform constitutional duties. 

The minority parties said aside from this, the reasons for the motion of no-confidence are:

• National and Provincial interference in the City’s internal appointments
• The sweeping of R4 billion from Johannesburg Water’s accounts, a reckless act that endangered service delivery and breached the principles of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
• Worsening service delivery failures, including prolonged water outages, continued electricity outages, crumbling infrastructure, and growing frustration among residents.
• The creation of the so-called “Bomb Squad”, introduced without Council consultation or approval. Even parties within the Government of Local Unity (GLU) were not taken into confidence regarding its establishment, mandate, or methods of operation.

The minority parties say that this has raised serious concerns about the potential overreach and the erosion of transparency and cooperative governance in the City.

The ANC criticised the minority parties for not formally engaging with the ANC or raising their concerns through the proper coalition structures.

“Their sudden public posture is therefore disingenuous and driven by narrow political motives rather than the genuine interests of the residents of Johannesburg,” the ANC’s Johannesburg branch said. 

The party added that an attack on Morero is an attack on the ANC itself. “The ANC will not stand by while opportunistic forces attempt to destabilise the progress being made under our leadership.”

‘The mayor is a narcissist and self-centred’

An insider from the minority parties told Times Live, however, that the parties organised a formal meeting of the Political Management Committee (PMC) to discuss the matter, in which the ANC was present. 

“The principle on the table is that we still want to hold the government, but the ANC must give us another person. We still want to be in a coalition led by the ANC. If they want to go against that, then it might be time for us to reset the button.”

The ANC is unlikely to remove Morero, stating that it “reaffirms its full confidence” in the mayor and the mayoral committee. 

The Minority Governing Parties (MGP) were key to the ANC regaining power in the city through the formation of a sp-called government of local unity (GLU).

Of the 270 seats in the CoJ council, the ANC holds 91, the Democratic Alliance (DA) 70, ActionSA 44, the EFF 29, the Patriotic Alliance 9, and the Inkatha Freedom Party 7.

After ANC’s Morero was elected mayor in August 2024, following his service in the cabinet under minority party mayors, the party formed the GLU with the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), Patriotic Alliance, and the MGP.

The MGP comprises the United Democratic Movement, Al Jama-ah, the African Independent Congress, and the African Heart Congress, which collectively hold a total of seven seats in the fractured council.

This is not the first time the coalition has faced trouble. In August and September, Newsday reported that the PA minority parties were considering pulling out due to disagreements with the ANC. 

Former Mayor and Al Jama-ah councillor Kabelo Gwamanda said that the ANC was not recognising the minority parties as its original partners. 

Mayor Morero already faced and survived a vote of no confidence against him in June 2025. 

The DA brought the motion and accused Morero of leading a dysfunctional and deteriorating city. 144 voted against the motion and 75 voted in favour.

The ANC argues that Moero has made significant progress in stabilising governance in Johannesburg, and restoring service delivery, as well as rebuilding public confidence in administrative processes. 

The party asserts the motion, based on the “non-implementation of PMC resolutions” is baseless and politically motivated, aimed at derailing this progress.