Joburg Mayor Purge Plans Paused

FACTIONAL FIGHT: City of Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero has gotten a reprieve after the new ANC Regional Leadership attempted to remove him. Photo: The Gauteng Times

ANC national leadership halts regional purge, while political analyst warns governance is sacrificed for factional ambition

The political battleground of Johannesburg has been plunged into a state of structural paralysis as the African National Congress (ANC) national leadership moves to decisively halt a regional purge.

This intervention comes at a critical juncture for the continent’s economic hub, where the survival of incumbent Mayor, Dada Morero has become a proxy for a much larger war between national stability and regional ambition. Professor Sethulego Matebesi, a leading political analyst from the University of the Free State, characterises this friction as a profound failure of institutional alignment.

“What we are seeing in Johannesburg is a clear misalignment of priorities,” Matebesi observes while noting that the national push back against regional attempts to change the mayor reveals a troubling disconnect within the governing party.

Matebesi suggests that the timing of this internal warfare, occurring on the eve of local government elections, points toward a disregard for the public interest. “This is happening on the eve of local government elections. Why now, after so many months, would they want to remove a sitting mayor?” Matebesi asks.

The halt on the removal of Morero was made official through a stern public assertion by ANC Secretary-General (SG), Fikile Mbalula.

“There is no mayor that is going to be removed by the region, let me tell you that. And I’m going to meet them, the region,” Mbalula stated recently.

Mbalula’s intervention serves as a reminder that the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) has taken a dim view of the regional office’s recent manoeuvres. “The NWC is clear that what the comrades in Joburg have done, it shouldn’t be,” Mbalula was quoted in recent reports, while insisting that the mayor remains firmly in his seat. Despite this stay of execution for the mayor’s office, Professor Matebesi remains sceptical of the motivations behind the initial push for his removal.

“It doesn’t appear to be about service delivery. If it were, we would have seen consistent, evidence-based interventions.” Matebesi contends that the impulse to recall the Morero is rooted in the preservation of internal influence rather than the improvement of city management, while noting the broad effects this impasse will have on Johannesburg. “Instead, this seems driven by factional interests - installing someone who will align with certain commanders within the party. ”

“The ANC is still wrestling with internal power struggles while roads crumble, street lights fail, water supply falters, and crime continues to rise. “The pattern is clear: political ambition is overtaking governance. “The result is reputational damage for the ANC and, more importantly, a city left in limbo,” Matebesi warns. While the ANC debates its internal hierarchy, opposition parties are capitalising on the vacuum to present themselves as ready alternatives.

“Other parties, like ActionSA and the DA, have already fielded their mayoral candidates,” Matebesi points out as he assesses the competitive landscape. Mbalula, on the other hand, has attempted to regularise the chaos by highlighting the selection process for all major municipal leaders.

“The top seven are going to interview the mayoral candidates of all the metros and the secondary cities, that’s the decision of the general council and the national executive committee,” Mbalula confirmed.

This move effectively strips the regional structures of their autonomy in a bid to ensure that only the highest calibre of leadership is deployed. Mbalula added that despite current frictions, the party would prioritise internal dialogue over public divorce: “We face challenges from time to time, but it’s our structures, and we will talk to them. The mayor is there, and he’s not removed.”

However, for Matebesi, the damage to the social contract in Gauteng is already becoming an indictment of the party’s current direction. The academic believes the focus of regional actors has drifted away from the fundamental requirements of a functional metropolis. “It’s no longer about service delivery or the public good - it’s about lining pockets and consolidating power.

“Gauteng should be a mirror for South Africa, but right now, it’s sending the wrong message,” he asserts. Matebesi concludes that the window for internal correction is closing as the electorate grows increasingly weary of the administrative stasis.

“The ANC must get its house in order, or the citizens will bear the consequences,” he finalises. The secretary-general has promised that the ANC Top Seven will finalise their interviews and announce the official mayoral appointments by May.

This timeline suggests that while More ro has survived the immediate regional onslaught and pending the outcomes of the ANC mayoral interviews, the city remains suspended in a period of intense political vetting.