DA says Joburg mayor’s ‘Bomb Squad’ a ploy to help ANC cadres

“That is why we will be tabling a motion of no confidence in mayor Morero. Enough is enough. The time for accountability is now. Mayor Morero must go,” she said.

The Bomb Squad team includes former city managers Blake Mosley-Lefatola, Mavela Dlamini, Prof Trevor Fowler and former Joburg COO Gerald Dumas.

It also includes Philisiwe Twala-Tau from the SA Local Government Association, who is the wife of former Joburg mayor Parks Tau; Vicky Shuping, adviser to the mayor; former Joburg CFO Reggie Boqo; and Prof Busani Ngwani, principal of the National School of Government.

Other Bomb Squad members are Khwezi Mabasa from the department of trade, industry & competition, Gumani Tshimomola, and Audrey Mothupi, CEO of the SystemicLogic Group.

Morero said the team’s work started in June with a cleanup campaign expected to be launched by deputy president Paul Mashatile on Friday in Kliptown, Soweto.

“Development cannot thrive where there is lawlessness,” Morero said. “Investment cannot take root where safety and order are absent. Dignity cannot be restored where public spaces are overrun by decay.

“It is only through implementation that we will be able to see the Johannesburg we want to see.

“When the going gets tough, they [the Bomb Squad] will apply the military definition to their work. And when hope is needed, the Springbok definition will be applied. A one-point win is [a] victory for a nation.”

Kayser-Echeozonjoku accused Morero of running out of plans, labelling the initiative “as nothing more than a public relations stunt to save his own image of not being incompetent”.

“The DA is further concerned that with elections looming, Morero wants to use the Bomb Squad to employ cadres who fell out as public representatives in the last election and create paid positions for what essentially will become paid ANC organisers.”

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