Gwamanda's arrest enough for him to step aside – Morero

Joburg mayor expresses concern that his predecessor faces fraud charge

The mayor of Joburg Dada Morero says fraud charges against a member of his executive, Kabelo Gwamanda, meet the minimum requirements for him to step aside.

On Monday, Morero broke his silence on the arrest of his predecessor and expressed his concern about the current MMC for community development being charged with fraud.

"I am deeply concerned by the matter of the arrest of MMC Kabelo Gwamanda. The developments deserve to be handled with sense of urgency on behalf of the residents of the city in order to ensure that it does not impact on the service delivery." 

"Consequently, as a deployee of the ANC in political office, we are guided by the ANC’s position on similar matters and cannot and do not expect any less from our partners in government. We can duly confirm that the situation meets the minimum requirements for the step-aside rule to kick in," he said.

Morero said he would meet with Gwamanda on Tuesday to get a report from him.

Gwamanda was arrested on Friday for fraud after he handed himself over to the police in Soweto and was later released on bail.

It is alleged that he conned unsuspecting Soweto residents through the iThemba Lama Afrika scheme into which they made monthly payments for funeral insurance.

One of his victims opened a case in January, it is alleged that she told the police that she thought the directors of the company that had scammed her were dead until she spotted one of them on TV as a mayor of Joburg.

According to the Sunday Times, a Financial Sector Conduct Authority investigation last year revealed that Gwamanda operated an illegal business in 2012 and then disappeared when his clients came looking for their money.

The allegations of Gwamanda’s fraud first made headlines when the DA mayoral candidate Mpho Phalatse who was contesting the same position with him threatened to open a case against him shortly after losing the mayoral reins.

Al Jama-ah leader, Ganief Hendricks questioned the timing of Gwamanda’s arrest.

“We are, however, surprised by the timing of the law enforcement at the time of Cllr Gwamanda’s appointment to the GNU Clearing House Committee and on the eve of the highly contested street renaming from Sandton Drive to Leila Khaled Drive.

“Although we advocate for the application and enforcement of the rule of law we would equally appreciate a fair application of such across the board the merits of the case are yet to be tested before a court of law,” he said.

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