"I am not resigning," said Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse. Picture: Neil McCartney
Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse has reached out to the six million residents of the city to participate in the hashtag “hands off Joburg” on social media, radio and other platforms.
Phalatse said she will not resign and has hit back at calls made by opposition parties in the council for her to quit her job and office saying she intends to finish her term.
In an open letter and a video released on Twitter, Phalatse launched the campaign to try and save her job with the “hands off Joburg” hashtag.
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Phalatse’s fight for survival comes as newly elected Joburg Council speaker Colleen Makhubele called for a special sitting on Friday to deliberate on a motion of no confidence against her.
The mayor said the African National Congress ((ANC) and its partners want to usher in a corrupt cabal which wants to empty the city’s coffers, stop service delivery and collapse the city.
This comes on the back of claims from the ANC that she and the Democratic Alliance (DA) left the city bankrupt.
“As we speak, there are nefarious actors working to urgently convene a meeting of Council to dissolve the Multi-Party Government and subsequently elect what can best be described as a corrupt cabal that will masquerade as a government.
Phalatse said she is not going anywhere.
“I will not be resigning, and I along with the 10 MMCs intend on completing our electoral term of office so that we can build this City, across its 7 regions, and call it a ‘city of golden opportunities’, where all residents feel that they’re part of a beautifully diverse community.”
“While we accept the democratic outcome of the election of a new Speaker of Council and respect the Office of the Speaker, what we will not allow is for that Office to be used as a vehicle to drive a political agenda that will ultimately collapse the city,” Phalatse said.
The mayor has pleaded with Joburg residents to stand by her.
“We have seen and live daily with the destruction of State Capture. The agenda of the political hyenas is to capture and collapse the city. You and I cannot allow this to happen,” she said.
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