New Joburg mayor is clean, Al Jama-ah leader says

Al Jama-ah president Ganief Hendricks has defended party member and newly elected Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda after he faced allegations of flouting SA’s financial laws.

DA councillor Mpho Phalatse said the new mayor should come clean about allegations that he scammed residents into investing in an illegal funeral/ investment scheme.

Phalatse, who lost the city’s mayorship contest to Gwamanda on Friday, issued a statement at the weekend, saying: “It is alleged that ... Gwamanda, through his entity iThemba Lama Afrika, scammed innocent residents into investing in a funeral/investment scheme. However, the investors were left hanging dry when it was time to claim their benefits.”

On his LinkedIn account, Gwamanda is listed as the “owner” of iThemba Lama Afrika. No further information is available. However, speaking to Business Day on Sunday, Hendricks said Gwamanda went through a vetting process and was cleared by his government of local unity coalition.

“Before a person is nominated as mayor, due diligence is done. We are aware of DA strategy to use this matter to make the city ungovernable. We told the ANC to investigate it fully. They checked it out. I had a meeting with the secretary-general of the ANC and he said it’s all clear,” Hendricks said.

Allegation

The Al Jama-ah president said the party, which holds three seats in the 270-seat Joburg council, was well aware that the DA was waiting for the right time to use the matter against Gwamanda. “The DA wants to destabilise Johannesburg. Everyone knew that Phalatse was going to use that allegation against us, but there is no merit to the allegation,” Hendricks said.

Gwamanda did not respond immediately to a request for comment. His election on Friday marked the sixth time political power has changed hands in SA’s richest metro since 2021.

Phalatse, who lost the race for the mayoral chain by 68 votes to 139, said the DA would bring these allegations to the attention of the SA Police Service for further investigation.

Phalatse was removed through a no-confidence vote in January and replaced by Al Jama-ah councillor Thapelo Amad, who resigned on April 24, a day before he was due to face a no-confidence vote. She said Gwamanda deserved an opportunity to clear his name if “he is to be trusted by the public”.

“Hence, we suggest that the executive mayor must, in less than 48 hours, take the public into his confidence by holding a public media briefing to provide clarity and assure the public that he will not interfere with this investigation,” she said.

Gwamanda was elected with the help of the ANC and other smaller parties in council, making up the dominant government of local unity coalition. Another challenger for the mayor’s position, ActionSA Gauteng chair Funzi Ngobeni, received 59 votes.

Delivering his acceptance speech, Gwamanda said that as a Soweto resident he is well aware of the challenges facing the metro. He said his responsibilities will include improving the quality of service delivery across all departments and metro entities. “We have to provide services that are at least worth paying for, rather than demanding payments because it’s legislated.”

The government of local unity coalition will use the upcoming state of the city address to “unpack our plan ... for the residents of Johannesburg”.

“Our interest is for the city to succeed. We are prepared to work with all political parties represented in council,” the mayor said, urging councillors to “collaborate in bringing back the heartbeat of the city of Johannesburg”.

Gwamanda inherited the mayoral committee of his predecessor, Amad, which is largely dominated by ANC councillors.: