The PA's deputy president, Kenny Kunene, will return as transport MMC in the City of Johannesburg in an attempt to keep the government of national unity intact.
City of Johannesburg executive mayor Dada Morero has reappointed Kunene as a member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for roads and transport, Morero’s office confirmed on Friday.
Kunene received his appointment letter, which Business Day has seen, earlier in the day. He resigned as councillor and MMC in July after police found him at the Sandton house of high-profile murder suspect Katiso Molefe.
Earlier this week Business Day reported that Kunene was sworn in as a Johannesburg councillor on Friday and is poised to return as transport MMC after being cleared in an investigation into his links with Molefe.
Kunene was at Molefe’s home when he was arrested in connection with the murder of music producer Oupa Sefoka. An investigation initiated by the PA and conducted by law firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr cleared Kunene of wrongdoing. Molefe was not interviewed during the investigation.
It has been independently confirmed that PA leader Gayton McKenzie gave the ANC in Johannesburg an ultimatum to reinstate Kunene, failing which the PA would withdraw from all coalition governments with the ANC — at municipal, provincial and national levels.
McKenzie threatened to resign as sports, arts and culture minister unless Kunene was reinstated. According to senior ANC sources, Kunene had to be reinstated to keep the coalition in the city intact, even though the party feels “he adds no real value”.
In August, Business Day reported Kunene had left a portfolio strained by potholes and faulty traffic lights across SA’s financial hub.
At the time, Morero said it would cost the city about R700m to fix all potholes.
In May the Johannesburg Roads Agency was allocated R2.9bn over the medium term to upgrade high-traffic corridors and expand stormwater infrastructure.
Johannesburg’s pothole crisis has garnered provincial attention, with Gauteng finance MEC Lebogang Maile allocating R9.7bn to roads and transport for 2025/26, rising to R28bn over the medium term.
In September 2024, the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) also announced it was injecting at least R50bn into the economy for road maintenance and upgrades.
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