Morero elected as new Mayor of Johannesburg

By Mark Ogagan

African National Congress (ANC) regional chairperson in Johannesburg, Dada Morero, has been elected as the new mayor of the city.

Morero was elected on Friday, 16 August, following Kabelo Gwamanda’s resignation.

Morero was elected Joburg’s first citizen in September 2022 when he took the mayoral chain from the Democratic Alliance’s (DA’s) Mpho Phalatse, but he barely spent a month in office as litigation ruled his election was illegal.

Phalatse was reinstated as mayor but was quickly ousted via a no-confidence motion, which paved the way for Thapelo Amad, first, and then Kabelo Gwamanda later – from three-seat party Al Jama-ah – to be mayors.

On Friday, Morero was up against DA caucus leader in the municipality Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku.

Five things to know about the new Mayor

• Dada Morero was born and raised in Orlando West Extension, a few kilometres from apartheid activists Nelson Mandela and Andrew Mlangeni’s homes.
• According to the City of Johannesburg, Morero cut his teeth in political activism in high school by rebelling against the forced occupation of Soweto schools by white former South African Defence Force members in the late eighties. He is a former Congress of the South African Students’ Congress student leader.
• The new mayor also holds a postgraduate diploma in Public Management from the Wits Business School and a Master’s degree from the Regenesys Business School. He is currently enrolled for a Master’s in Policy Development at the London University.
• Before being elected regional chairperson in June 2022, Morero was the longest-serving regional secretary in Gauteng having served three terms.
• He is a father of five and is married.