Johannesburg - The ANC in Joburg says it hopes the city will have a new mayor by the beginning of next month.
Speaking to The Star, ANC Joburg spokesperson Sasa Manganye said the party was awaiting a meeting of the Gauteng provincial executive committee (PEC) in which the region would then present three candidates to the PEC.
Manganye said regional politics in Joburg were matured and there would be careful consideration as to who would succeed the deceased mayor Geoff Makhubo.
The Star understands that among the names being suggested were those of Speaker Nonceba Molwele, finance MMC Jolidee Matongo and health MMC Eunice Mgcina. There were also some throwing the name of former housing MMC Ruby Mathang into the hat.
“All of us wish is to conclude this by the end of July but it will depend on the internal process. They know that we cannot leave Joburg to remain without an executive for long, so we are all aware of that we want to treat this with a high level of urgency, but at the same time we don’t want to rush it and not give Joburg the best,” Manganye said.
He said the ANC in the city would maintain its coalition government while processes to elect a new mayor were under way. The ANC is in a coalition with the IFP, Cope, ACDP and Al Jama-ah.
“There is no panic of being leaders. We obviously we have the challenge of going through the process that we went through in 2019 of deciding who is going to be the mayor.
“The ANC is a democratic organisation, even where we don’t agree, democratic centralism will guide us on how we must resolve our issues. The wish that we have is that we have a discussion that will result in a consensus.”
He said the party would not rule out the possibility of having a female mayor.
“Whatever we recommend, the PEC will make a recommendation to the NEC for final determination, so it does not matter if its male or female. We are going to elect someone who will take us to the … election.”
Manganye said whoever was appointed would continue from where the late mayor had left off. He said the ANC would ensure that they gave the best of the party’s leadership to the city.
The Star