Coalition chaos – Will 2023 be Joburg’s Year of the Four Mayors?

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is investigating Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda for allegedly having operated a Ponzi-like funeral scheme called Ithemba Lama Afrika.

Ponzi schemes collect money from the public but collapse when claims can’t be honoured.

If the FSCA investigation, confirmed on 19 June by Daily Maverick, shows Gwamanda was involved in such a scheme, he will have to quit and the city will prepare for its sixth mayor since the 2021 local government elections.

The graphic below shows that Johannesburg has been rocked by instability since the coalition government was installed at scale across Gauteng’s major cities of Johannesburg, Pretoria (Tshwane) and Ekurhuleni.Johannesburg’s experience is a microcosm of what could happen after the 2024 national and provincial elections if coalition formation and government aren’t reformed. The city is in polycrises, with electricity and water cuts now common enough to no longer make headlines: they have become normalised.