‘No new plan to run city’ - Matongo wants to continue to work done by Makhubo
Newly elected Johannesburg Mayor Jolidee Matongo says his team will continue the work done by the late Geoff Makhubo.
Matongo, who was previously the MMC for Finance in the city, was elected unopposed on Tuesday.
He takes over from Makhubo, who died in July after contracting Covid-19.
During a media briefing shortly after he was elected mayor, Matonga said there is no new plan for running the city.
He said the first order of business would be to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and the recent unrest.
"As a city, we are faced with the problem of joblessness; this is part of the things we will be zooming into as part of continuing the work begun by the administration of late executive mayor comrade Makhubo. I think you want us to say something new which I do not think will be fair because we are already in the middle of a financial year," said Matonga
He said the budget for the year has already been approved and any new direction for the city would require an adjustment budget which is likely to be announced next year.
Matongo and his team will be sworn in on Wednesday.
He said he will not appoint an entirely new team.
"The mayoral committee should be finalised by tonight because we don't have time, we must put the team together. So tonight, before we sleep, we should have the names of the 10 members of the committee. We are a government of local unity, and we are in coalition with other parties, so we must consult with them. We have already done that, it's just a matter of tying the loose ends.
"We are not necessarily looking at starting afresh, changing the team in its entirety. In the ANC we believe in continuity and while there is continuity there must be change. But because we don't have the luxury of time there shouldn't be a lot of changes because that would upset the move forward," added Matonga.
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