Action SA files no-confidence against Joburg mayor

Caucus Leader Funzi Ngobeni said the motion comes at the back of a Carte Blanche expose which claimed that Gwamanda defrauded people through a funeral scheme.

The programme also raised serious questions about the Al Jama-ah councillor’s academic qualifications.

"Since the exposure by Carte Blanche, Gwamanda has not taken the council or the residents of Johannesburg into his confidence to provide any assurance about these serious allegations of wrongdoing. Instead, the matter has been treated as an internal matter and coalition partners have helped shield Gwamanda from unscripted engagements with the media,” said Ngobeni.

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"The mayor's continued silence on these charges nearly one month later can only be construed as his wish not to incriminate himself by engaging the media and Johannesburg residents more broadly."

Ngobeni confirmed that Action SA has discussed the matter with the IFP, FF Plus, ACDP and UIM  and the DA with a view to garnering support for the motion.

However, the DA has not yet responded.

"The DA has failed to respond to these requests despite several parties in the moonshot pact discussions observing the importance of repairing the reputational damage to the confidence in our multi-party coalition project at a local level."

The motion is due to be heard in council between 20-21 June.