Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero. (X)
The delay in appointing a finance MMC in the City of Johannesburg stems from the perception that the position is seen as a stepping stone to the mayoral seat, making it a hotly contested post, ANC regional sources say.
With the party due to hold its Johannesburg regional conference in September, two factions — referred to as “Spirit” and “Fire Brigade” — have been locked in a struggle for the finance position, which became vacant earlier this month after Margaret Arnolds was elected council speaker following the removal of ActionSA’s Nobuhle Mthembu.
Minority parties in the local coalition government, which is led by the ANC and Economic Freedom Fighters, are also vying for the position.
Some party members view the finance MMC post as effectively that of a deputy mayor and a pathway to becoming mayor, an ANC regional task team member told the Mail & Guardian.
“MMC for finance is like a deputy mayor, it’s a step away from being mayor. You control where the money goes, overseeing billions,” they said.
The ANC’s Parks Tau served as finance MMC before becoming mayor, as did Geoff Makhubo and Jolidee Matongo. Current mayor Dada Morero briefly served as mayor, then became finance MMC before returning for a second stint in the top job.
The ANC source added that with the conference looming and lobbying for positions intensifying, having a finance MMC aligned with a faction could be advantageous.
The “Fire Brigade” faction is understood to support former regional chair Morero, and “Spirit” backs former deputy regional secretary Loyiso Masuku.
Despite the position not being as lucrative as others in the mayoral committee, an MMC for finance can get sponsorship from suppliers if they are paid on time, which would be a plus for the upcoming regional conference.
“It’s important to have money when you go to conferences. As finance MMC, you decide which entities to pay, so it’s really about power,” the source said.
“There’s contractors who have not been paid and you can approach them to push for their payment from the administrators and [as a] result they can support you for the conference.”
But ANC coordinator Sasabona Manganye rejected the notion that the finance MMC position is viewed as a mayoral launching pad, arguing that appointing Arnolds to the position, for example, did not imply that the ANC wanted her to ultimately become mayor.
“Morero was mayor before he became finance MMC. We don’t appoint mayors at conferences or because they’re backed by suppliers, that argument is weak,” Manganye said.
“Parks Tau was not made mayor because he was finance MMC. Mpho Moerane never served as finance MMC before becoming mayor. Geoff Makhubo was not appointed mayor because he was finance MMC. There’s no such a thing, people are making their own assumptions.”
Manganye said the delay in filling the current vacancy stemmed largely from Morero having been away abroad.
A source told the M&G that, because the regional executive committee was disbanded and turned to a regional task team after its three years had lapsed, the latter needed to submit a candidate for finance MMC to the Gauteng ANC provincial task team for approval. Ordinarily the top five of the regional leadership would decide on a preferred name and then bring it to its local government coalition partners for approval.
Manganye said the vacancy should be filled by next week, either on Monday or Tuesday. “I’ve already engaged with the chair and we are clear.”
He denied that internal factional tussles were behind the delay.
“I’m not a Spirit and I’m not a Fire Brigade, so I don’t know why somebody would talk about Spirit and Fire Brigade. If there’s such a thing, that means I’m not involved or part of the discussion. I’m a leader of the ANC and it ends there, I don’t entertain factions.”
Senior Johannesburg municipality sources also claimed that the delay in appointing a new MMC was political, but added that it wasn’t affecting administration work.
“The budget is already passed in council and we are in the new budget now, so it is just a matter of oversight and it doesn’t affect the administration of the city,” one said.
The sources, however, rejected suggestions that politicians hold any sway over how city administrators pay service providers.
“None of that can happen; we have controls and councillors don’t get involved in the administration. We have an age analysis of all the creditors and debtors and who you pay. The systems are very intact, it’s not that easy,” one said.
“You prioritise the bulk purchases being Eskom, Rand Water, fleet, salaries, once you’ve done with that, then you follow the rest. We have a creditors analysis, which is done by the administrators, so you would have difficulty why you pay someone whose invoice had been in the system longer than the other.”