Panyaza Lesufi argues with Herman Mashaba about ‘disastrous’ Johannesburg

Political squabbles continue to play out online‚ this time with Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi and former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba engaging in a war of words.

Mashaba suggested negotiating coalitions and leadership for municipalities in Gauteng would be a “disaster of note” because of Lesufi and Johannesburg mayor Thapelo Amad.

“The premier of Gauteng's preferred mayor‚” Mashaba said of Amad. “Just imagine post-2024 with Panyaza still as premier‚ negotiating coalitions and leadership for municipalities in Gauteng. [It'll be a] disaster of note.”

Lesufi replied that Mashaba was worse than Amad, saying attempts to remove him from collective leadership would not succeed.

ActionSA caucus leader in Johannesburg Funzi Ngobeni said the party would submit a motion of no confidence in Amad‚ labelling him a “puppet mayor” after making claims about a potential loan of R9.5bn‚ supposedly from a private company.

In an interview with SABC News‚ Amad said he secured the loan to fund “service delivery issues” and a “smart city”.

“[The loan] will come in the form of a finance model when you're taking finance. So it comes at an interest rate of about 2%‚ you only pay 2% for the period of five years without paying the amount of the loan. It’s only the percentage and then after five years you will pay for the next 15 years‚” said Amad.

Ngobeni said the mayor was an “expedient candidate between the ANC and EFF’s coalition of doom” and had “again proved to be woefully ill-equipped and unable to articulate a coherent plan of action and vision for the City of Johannesburg”.

“Since Amad’s election‚ service delivery in Johannesburg has rapidly deteriorated with heaps of rubbish piling up on our streets while ANC members of the mayoral committee — such as Jack Sekwaila — want to blame homeless people for the city’s mess‚” Ngobeni said.

The motion is expected to be debated during an ordinary council meeting on April 25.

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