The speaker of the City of Johannesburg, Nobuhle Mthembu, has disassociated herself from an inquiry into Kabelo Gwamanda, a member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for community development.
She reiterated that the standing rules and orders of the council handbook do not empower the legislature to investigate breaches occurring outside a councillor’s term in office.
According to Rule 150(2), which Mthembu cited, any issues pertaining to violations must be brought up within the time frame in which the alleged misconduct took place.
“Until such time that work to amend the standing rules and orders of the council handbook is completed, the office of the speaker does not have any legislative authority to institute any disciplinary proceedings against councillor Gwamanda for an alleged breach that happened outside of his tenure as a councillor,” said Mthembu.
She was reacting to a statement from Dada Morero, the mayor of the city, which said the accusations would be forwarded to the speaker of council.
Special leave
According to the statement, Gwamanda will continue to be on special leave while the speaker handles the matter in accordance with the council’s established procedures and rules.
Mthembu emphasised that the executive mayor has complete discretion over these roles and is the only one with the power to appoint and remove MMCs
Due to fraud charges, Gwamanda has been placed on special leave.
Al Jama-Ah, Gwamanda’s party, asserted that the fraud accusation originated from the DA’s overthrow in Johannesburg in 2023, when Gwamanda was elected executive mayor.
According to Yusuf Dalwai of Al Jamaah, former DA mayor Mpho Phalatse filed these accusations, claiming that Gwamanda had a company that defrauded the community of money for over a decade before entering politics.
He was arrested last Friday at the Protea North police station and released on bail that same day.
