A possible removal of ANC councillor Dada Morero as executive mayor of South Africa’s largest metro, Johannesburg, could further disrupt the rollout of service delivery in an already unstable metro, analysts and opposition parties told Business Day on Monday.
Business Day’s sister publication, the Sunday Times, reported the ANC in Johannesburg had decided to recall Morero as executive mayor during an urgent, special regional executive committee meeting convened on Saturday.
Numerous service delivery problems, rampant crime, poor revenue collection and high unemployment bedevil Johannesburg. So big are its woes, the city is under a presidential intervention aimed at delivering services to its 6-million residents.
Joburg, the country’s economic and financial hub, is responsible for 16% of national GDP and employs 12% of the national workforce.
The city is suffering under the weight of hijacked buildings, corruption, uncontrolled illegal immigration, vandalism of traffic lights, dysfunctional street lights and rapidly deteriorating roads and bridges.
The analysts and opposition parties said that while the latest development speaks to the ANC’s internal factional battles ahead of the local government elections later this year, its effects could spill over to the public and service delivery could take a knock as a result.
The revolving door of political instability in the metro has seen a succession of mayors come and go, including Parks Tau (2016), Herman Mashaba (2016-19), Geoff Makhubo (2020-21), Mpho Moerane (2021), Jolidee Matongo (2021), Mpho Phalatse (2021-22), Dada Morero (2022), Thapelo Amad (2023), Kabelo Gwamanda (2023-24), and Morero.
“The issue of Morero being removed as mayor speaks to internal factional battles within the ANC,” said political analyst Thabiso Maphosa.
“This means service delivery would continue to be neglected if he is removed,” he said, adding that a new mayor would probably focus on campaigning for the upcoming municipal elections rather than deal with service delivery issues.
“A new mayor might change the mayoral committee, which could affect policy direction and implementation and the rollout of service delivery. Important issues won’t be attended to.”
The issue of Morero being removed as mayor speaks to internal factional battles within the ANC.
— Thabiso Maphosa, political analyst
Stellenbosch University political analyst Amanda Gouws said Joburg has been “quite unstable for a long time…. Service delivery in Joburg has been quite bad around water, roads and maintenance.”
Gouws said removing Morero could be a calculated move to replace him with a “stronger candidate” that could take DA mayoral candidate Helen Zille head on.
Read: Treasury cracks down as metros underspend billions on critical water infrastructure
ANC Greater Joburg regional spokesperson Mantombi Nkosi would not be drawn to comment, saying it is an ongoing internal process. ”We will brief the media once it has run its course.”
In a statement on the outcomes of the regional executive committee meeting, the ANC said it had received a governance report and engaged “extensively on progress in addressing major service delivery challenges affecting residents of Johannesburg”.
“These include infrastructure maintenance, water security, electricity reliability and broader efforts to stabilise governance in the city.
“The [committee] further noted with concern the leaking of unofficial internal discussions and urges media houses to allow internal organisational processes to unfold before publishing claims that may mislead the public and undermine governance stability.”
DA Joburg caucus leader Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku said her party will not get involved in ANC internal factional battles. Johannesburg is already unstable, she said, noting: “We did not pass the adjusted budget last week because of several inconsistencies in the budget, which the DA rejected.”
The adjusted budget for 2025/26 collapsed after failing to garner enough votes. The DA and Freedom Front Plus took issue with employee costs increasing by R1.35bn.
DA finance mayoral committee spokesperson Chris Santana said the increase brought the total wage bill to about R23bn, 27% of the municipality’s operating revenue.
ActionSA and the EFF abstained from voting.
Kayser-Echeozonjoku said Morero’s removal could spell “more instability for the metro and residents will suffer”.
Morero’s spokesperson, Khathu Mulaudzi, said at this stage the mayor has not received any official communication from the ANC instructing him to vacate his office. ”The mayor has also noted the statement issued by the ANC Johannesburg region last night [Sunday], which does not make any reference to a recall.”
“Matters relating to the recall of deployed public representatives are a competency of the national leadership of the ANC and the mayor will respect and abide by any formally communicated decision of the organisation,” Mulaudzi said.
“The mayor would like to assure residents that the work of the city continues uninterrupted. His focus remains on strengthening service delivery, improving infrastructure and ensuring that the city works for all who live in it. The interests of residents will always come before political speculation.”
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula could not immediately be reached for comment.
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