‘In 100 days you’ll see a difference’, vows newly elected Johannesburg mayor Thapelo Amad

After a long day of council proceedings on Friday, the majority of councillors in Johannesburg voted in favour of Al Jama-ah’s Thapelo Amad to take over as the city’s  executive mayor.      

The 41- year-old’s election was a formality after he was publicly endorsed by the minority parties bloc comprising the AIC, PA, ATM, ANC, EFF, Al Jama-ah, Cope and the ANC days before the council sat for the  10th ordinary meeting. 

Amad went head to head with two other contestants, former Democratic Alliance mayor Mpho Phalatse and ActionSA’s Funzi Ngobeni. A total of 266 councilors were present to cast their votes, Amad received 138 votes,  Phalatse 81 and Ngobeni 46 votes. 

His election comes just hours after the axing of Phalatse through a motion  of no confidence on Thursday. The motion which saw Phalatse face the chop was brought by the African Transformation Movement’s Lubabalo Nogatshu who argued she’d failed to deliver services to the marginalised and poor residents of Johannesburg.   

Read more in Daily Maverick: She’s out; she’s back in; she’s out again – Mpho Phalatse removed as Johannesburg mayor

The DA needed the support of the Patriotic Alliance to defeat the motion, but negotiations between the two parties collapsed. The PA is said to have demanded two  positions on the Mayoral Committee in Johannesburg and MMC positions in the Ekurhuleni metro — to which the DA did not agree.   

Phalatse’s removal comes barely three months after she successfully had a motion of no confidence against her overturned at the Johannesburg High Court. 

Before this, Phalatse faced several other motions of no confidence— some failed and some were withdrawn.    

Reacting to his defeat, Ngobeni told journalists that ActionSA would rally behind Amad’s ambition to bring about stability in the city. 

“Democracy has prevailed, we will be supporting Thapelo Amad because we want stability in the city, that’s what we should all be striving for, therefore if the stability is going to be supported by Amad and the bloc that’s supporting him, we will support them. Of course we are going to exercise our oversight as opposition, we will hold them accountable.”    

Meanwhile Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi defended the ANC's decision to endorse Amad. 

“We are of the view that there must be no one that thinks they are big brothers and others are small brothers.  There must be no one that thinks that other views of political parties do not count. We have the strong view that everyone's view counts and everyone's you must be respected and everyone's we must be listening to their differences,”

PA President, Gayton McKenzie echoed similar sentiments slamming the DA, accusing them of negotiating in bad faith and undermining small parties in council.  

“Big parties don't need coalition partners, there is no big party. If that was the case,  why did they come to our houses at midnight last night (with an offer)`.”  

Taking the podium for the first time as the executive mayor, Amad said he was humbled at the opportunity, he also urged councillors to work alongside him in addressing pressing issues which the citizens grapple with.  

“Today I humbly request that you all hold my hand as we purposefully unite to address the pressing challenges bedevilling our city. We must accept that as this administration, we will not be able to achieve much if we do not work with broader society. We must foster partnerships and where they exist, we must strengthen them,” he said.   

Amad also committed to bringing about stability and service delivery within 100 days.

The newly minted Mayor outlined his priority headlines as service delivery, finances, administrative reforms, Fraud and corruption and community participation

We must be equally mindful of the cries of our people who in all honesty, yearn for basic services. This will be the first priority of this administration. We will seek to make sure that the most basic of services are extended to all the corners of the city.

“I accept the challenges, in 100 days you’ll see a difference,” said Amad.   

Speaker of council, Colleen Makhubele of Cope also rallied behind Amad’s election which she dubbed as historic.  “This is a very historic moment and  we don't take it lightly.  

Makhubele said they would rally behind Amad in a bid to kickstart the city.  Should he fail, Makhubele said they would show him the door. 

“I want to say and assure the residents of the city that we are going to kickstart the city, we are going to kickstart it come hell or high water… 

“One of the priorities is to provide oversight on the executive mayor, if he does not kickstart the city as a speaker with the help of the leaders here. We are going to either kick him out and bring in a mayor that will come in and serve the residents of the city. 

“We have so much faith in Him. We know that he can deliver. We've seen how he conducts himself in council,” said Makhubele.  

Meanwhile the African Independent Congress’ (AIC) Margaret Arnolds said Amad’s appointment was long overdue.  

“I'm excited. I can jump out of my skin today. Because after one year, and one month, the minorities have given birth to a mayor. A mayor that will be credible. A mayor that will deliver services, a mayor that will listen to the people and the mayor that will be there for the people.DM