ActionSA leader and former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba has labelled current Mayor Dada Morero “the most useless mayor” the metro has ever had.
Mashaba, who served as Johannesburg’s mayor from 2016 to 2019 under the Democratic Alliance (DA), said that during a sit-down interview with News in Johannesburg on Tuesday.
“Dada Morero has been one of the biggest disappointments as mayor of the City of Johannesburg,” Mashaba said.
Mashaba resigned from both the DA and the mayoralty in 2019 following the re-election of Helen Zille as chairperson of the DA’s federal council.
He later founded ActionSA in 2020 after facing criticism for alleged xenophobic statements made during his tenure.
Mashaba said that after ActionSA reached a coalition agreement with the ANC in the City of Tshwane, following the removal of the DA’s Cilliers Brink in a motion of no confidence, ANC approached his party to join forces in Johannesburg.
“After doing the deal with the ANC in the City of Tshwane, they then invited us to work with them in the City of Johannesburg,” Mashaba said.
“We said, ‘Okay, you guys put forward someone, it’s up to you, but please give us a capable person.’”
He added that the ANC nominated Morero, whom ActionSA “didn’t know,” to be mayor.
ANC’s Morero, was officially elected mayor for the second time in September 2024 during a special council sitting.
Morero had previously been elected mayor in September 2022 after the DA’s Mpho Phalatse was removed through a vote of no confidence.
However, a court later reinstated Phalatse, ruling that her removal had been unlawful.
The ANC’s successful bid in 2024 was supported by several parties, including ActionSA, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).
This was after the resignation of Al Jama-ah’s Kabelo Gwamanda, who had been in office since 2023, was accused of weak leadership and poor service delivery.
Gwamanda succeeded his party colleague Thapelo Amad, who resigned after just three months to avoid a motion of no confidence.
Morero is the ninth mayor to lead Johannesburg since 2016.
Mashaba said that only months after Morero’s appointment, he saw signs that the mayor was struggling to perform.
“I can tell you two or three months down the line, I started raising red flags around Dada Morero. His focus is not there,” Mashaba said.
He recalled meeting Morero shortly after his appointment and expressing concern over his choice of Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Finance, Margret Arnolds.
“You know how critical that department is… Without it, you can’t stabilise the city’s finances or improve revenue collection, and service delivery will collapse.”
Mashaba said Morero told him he appointed Arnolds “so that I can control it.”
“I nearly fell off my chair,” Mashaba said. “Why do you need to control people? Surround yourself with the best people – that’s how you succeed. You don’t surround yourself with people with weaknesses.”
Mashaba claimed that he immediately raised the issue with ANC leadership at provincial, national, and regional levels.
“It’s really been a complete disappointment. I hope the ANC keeps him there, because that would be the final nail in the coffin.”
Arnolds, an African Independent Congress councillor, resigned as council speaker in August 2024 after being appointed finance MMC under Morero.
She had served as speaker for about nine months, from November 2023 to August 2024, before stepping down, as rules prohibit holding both positions at the same time.
However, in response to News queries, Khathu Mulaudzi, spokesperson for Morero’s office, said Mashaba’s remarks were unfortunated.
“But also unfounded, clearly illustrating a continued pattern of misrepresenting the state of our city for his own political gain.
According to him, since taking office, Morero has been unwavering in his commitment to restoring stability, enhancing service delivery, revitalising critical infrastructure, and strengthening the city’s financial position.
“These efforts are ongoing, measurable, and the residents of Johannesburg are witnessing significant progress, particularly through the high-impact and accelerated service delivery programmes actively underway in all regions.”
He said Morero inherited a city that was severely weakened by years of instability, including what he said was the “disastrous” administration led by Mashaba.
“His term left critical departments depleted and numerous programmes abandoned. It is, therefore, both ironic and disingenuous for Mashaba to deflect responsibility for his own dysfunctional legacy by targeting a leadership that is diligently rectifying the fallout of his tenure,” he said.
He said the mayor remains steadfastly focused on his mandate and rubbished Mashaba’s comments as mere baseless political rhetoric.
“The claim that the mayor seeks to “control” the finance department reveals a gross misunderstanding of the city’s governance processes. The Mayor’s focus is paying dividends in stabilising the governance and financial sustainability as evidenced by the two recent results of the independent credit rating agencies about the outlook of the city’s finance which demonstrate that the tide is turning in Johannesburg,” Mulaudzi added.
Meanwhile, turning to the upcoming G20 summit, scheduled to be held in Johannesburg from 22–23 November, Mashaba said the city was not ready to host such a high-profile international gathering.
Although the city has intensified service delivery operations and there have been visible improvements, critics remain unconvinced.
“Why do we have to do this only for the G20?” Mashaba asked. “We should have maintained the city all along. Some of these projects are still far behind, and the city centre remains unsafe and neglected.”
Opposition parties in Gauteng have also argued that Johannesburg is not ready to host the summit due to persistent service delivery failures, including water and electricity shortages, potholes, decaying infrastructure, uncollected waste, and non-functioning streetlights and traffic signals.
Mashaba further raised concerns about crime and policing in the city.
“What are we going to do about crime when there’s no real leadership in our law enforcement agencies?” he said. “The NPA is struggling, and we don’t have leadership in the police.”
Despite the criticism, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has confirmed during a media briefing earlier this week on the state of preparedness for the upcoming gathering that the province will host the G20 summit as planned.
Politics
