Is Dada Morero’s apology too little, too late?
· Citizen
City of Joburg mayor Dada Morero’s political career is hanging in the balance after he told a Tshepisong township resident that he was “talking sh*t”, according to experts.
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The incident happened during Morero’s recent interaction with the community. The argument started when an elderly man kept on accusing the mayor of being corrupt, with Morero getting angry, telling the man he was old and talking rubbish.
After the clip in which Morero was swearing at the man went viral, he apologised, presumably after he was called to order by the ANC leadership. ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa has also apologised and asked the residents of Johannesburg to forgive Morero for his reckless words.
Morero exposed his true colours
Political analyst Goodenough Mashego said Morero’s comments exposed his true colours and showed he was not a leader.
Mashego said Morero has always been a proxy for Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s people who wanted him in the mayoral position.
“He became a mayor because mayors kept dying and because of the government. He has never demonstrated in any capacity or in any ANC structure leadership qualities, such as the ability to listen, because leadership is about listening.
“It’s not about dictating, it’s not about being respected, it’s about being able to listen to people and respecting people.
“He is showing people who he really is, because he knows from the deliberations happening in the ANC that his game is over.”
ANC’s next mayoral candidate
The ANC was most likely to appoint Frank Chikane to become the next mayor of Joburg because it wants somebody whose reputation can stand up to that of the DA’s candidate, Helen Zille, Mashego said.
“Morero probably knows the deliberations are not favouring him and he no longer cares. But I think that is a mistake and he is closing doors for himself because they could deploy him somewhere.”
Political analyst Theo Neethling said Morero’s outburst may hurt, but it is not guaranteed to eliminate his prospects of being the ANC’s next mayoral candidate for Johannesburg.
“The timing is poor, as the ANC is already struggling in the electoral landscape of the city, and Morero’s leadership abilities are being questioned.
“Even though he expressed remorse, the incident gives his opponents and critics within the ANC leverage to challenge his temperament, judgment and capacity to engage positively with discontented residents.”
Neethling has commended the leadership of the ANC to respond decisively and distance itself from Morero’s statements, as the party made it clear such behaviour was not acceptable, especially as it seeks to restore public trust in the party’s leadership and governance.
“Nonetheless, the public rebuke also highlights the political frailty of its own candidate. Morero’s best course of action is to acknowledge the criticism, refrain from being defensive and show through his actions that the incident was a one-time mistake, rather than indicative of a larger issue within leadership.
“In the end, voters in Johannesburg are likely to assess him – and the ANC – not just based on this single outburst, but on their ability to offer credible leadership and address the city’s significant governance and service delivery issues,” Neethling said.
Morero’s ‘destiny will be determined by ANC factions’
Another political analyst, Sandile Swana, said there was a time former president Kgalema Motlanthe defined the ANC as totally and thoroughly corrupt. Swana said the rot in the ANC was across the board and not confined to any level or any area of the country.
“Almost every project is conceived because it offers opportunities for certain people to make money. A great deal of the ANC’s problems are occasioned by this,” Swana said. “The ANC protects wrongdoers at the highest level and Morero will be protected. His destiny and rise to mayorship will be determined by ANC factions, not by his public errors.”