City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Thapelo Amad has tendered his resignation ahead of a motion of no confidence against him on Tuesday. Amad was elected as mayor in January through a coalition between the African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters as and Patriotic Alliance. He is one of two Al Jama-ah councillors in the city of Joburg. 

WE'VE GOT NUMBERS 

Gauteng Premier and ANC chairperson in the province Panyaza Lesufi and said Amad is not resigning because they think he will lose, however they needed to preserve their coalition. Lesufi thanked Amad for preserving the unity of political parties in Johannesburg above his personal interests. "He didn't resign because of the motion tomorrow; we've got the numbers. We were going to crush that motion against him. He's not running away from the motion. We need to keep this coalition intact. There is no instability in Johannesburg, we have this government of local unity intact, just because a mayor is resigning does not mean there is instability. This coalition is standing, capable and will continue to do the work," said Lesufi. 

HE DID HIS BEST  

Lesufi said Amad gave the mayoral position his best shot. "There is no leader who is perfect, we still had confidence in him but if he felt that he needed to step away to ensure this coalition stays together, then that's it. The coalition partners will defend any motions of no confidence against the speaker."  Amad came under fire last week when he said in a TV interview that he has secured a potential loan of R9.5 billion loan. ActionSA said then that they had filled a motion of confidence against him, and PA leader Gayton McKenzie said his party was supporting the motion.