Executive Mayor Cllr Kabelo Gwamanda calls scam claims against him as ‘unfounded’
The newly elected Executive Mayor of Johannesburg Cllr Kabelo Gwamanda called the accusations of fraud and swindling against him 'unfounded' at the Ke Kasi Yarona launch in Alexandra.
The newly elected Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg Cllr Kabelo Gwamanda has described allegations of fraud levelled against him as disingenuous.
The mayor was speaking in an interview with Alex News during his recent visit to Alexandra to launch a youth clean-up programme known as ‘Ke Kasi Yarona’.
“I haven’t even been in office a week but already I’m more famous than I’ve ever been in my life. It may be a good or bad thing, but I’m humbled by the fact that someone is uncomfortable with my election as mayor because if everyone was happy then the residents would have something to be worried about.
“Those peddling these unfounded allegations are not aware of the potential damage that they’re inflicting on the goals that this mayorship aims to achieve. We have processes to follow and our legal team has undertaken those processes, so I’m not deterred. I am still here and happy with how things are and confident in the work that I’m supposed to do for the city,” Gwamanda said.
When asked about Ithemba Lama Afrika, a funeral parlour that he allegedly used to defraud /scam people, Gwamanda said; “I’m not going to delve too much into it, but it was a social entrepreneurship company that existed when I was much younger than I am now.
“The same community that embraced and supported me during that time, still supports me today to a point where they were able to elect me to the office that I initially occupied until I was appointed as the executive mayor,” he said.
Gwamanda was also recently the focus of an inquiry which revealed that his highest level of education was Grade 10 when asked whether he had a matric certificate or not, he instead compared himself to John Steenhuisen, the Democratic Alliance leader, who does not possess a degree.
“What if I am the black version of Steenhuisen? Is it pigmentation that’s the qualifying criteria for competence? Is my ability being questioned based solely on the fact that I’m young and black and not on whether I have the capacity to hold such an office?
“I am an indigenous child of the soil, and I possess the intelligence necessary for me to lead my people in the direction that is required,” Gwamanda said.
According to Gwamanda, he will not be deterred by political plots from whichever direction they come, his mandate is clear: which is to serve his people to the best of his ability using the resources of the state.
Gwamanda said some people will not be happy with the fact that an average person like him from the township that has never been processed by institutions is holding the levers of power with all the possibilities that the City of Johannesburg holds.
He added that if his appointment as executive mayor does not sit well with some people, he would advise them to go to court. That way he will be allowed the opportunity to prove himself because nobody knows who he is and what he brings to the table, and the potential that the coalition partners have to work with him.
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