The City of Johannesburg is set to appoint ANC regional chair and member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for finance Loyiso Masuku as deputy mayor at Thursday’s council sitting. This is if mayor Dada Morero survives a motion of no confidence brought against him by his coalition partner, the Al Jama-ah party.
The political management council (PMC) is set to meet on Tuesday evening to discuss a possible withdrawal of the motion, sources told the Mail & Guardian. The PMC is a body formed by the ruling coalition to resolve disputes arising from council.
Should it resolve to withdraw the motion against Morero, a recommendation that the city appoint a new deputy mayor, which was brought in December and approved by Morero, will be tabled in council, the sources said.
The deputy mayor’s functions will be identical to those in the Tshwane municipality, where ANC regional chair Bonzo Modise is technically the MMC for finance but also holds the title of deputy mayor.
An insider said the agreement to make Masuku a deputy mayor had been reached by the ANC in December last year.
“It’s not a new thing, The ANC resolved in December to create this post and make the current [ANC Johannesburg regional] chair a deputy mayor,” they said.
A proposal to council, which is dated 29 January 2026 and has been seen by the M&G, seeks approval for the establishment and election of an executive deputy mayor, in accordance with applicable legislative provisions, in order to strengthen executive leadership, ensure continuity of governance and enhance service delivery.
The report notes that in 2023, the Johannesburg council speaker received correspondence from the Gauteng MEC for cooperative governance and traditional affairs and infrastructure development, proposing that the city consider electing an executive deputy mayor in line with the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act.
The report said the establishment of the position of executive deputy mayor would have cost implications on remuneration and benefits, in accordance with the upper limits determined by the minister for cooperative governance and traditional affairs.
“The annual remuneration for a full-time councillor serving as executive deputy mayor is estimated at R1 280 117 per annum, in line with the government gazette on the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers Act, 1998, issued on 21 October 2024, including applicable adjustments. These costs will be accommodated within the approved 2025/26 financial year budget,” the report states.
The report said that in light of the increasing complexity of governance and service delivery demands in Johannesburg, it had become necessary to revisit the MEC’s proposal and consider the election of an executive deputy mayor to provide additional executive support to the mayor.
The absence of a formally established executive deputy mayor position presented governance and operational risks, particularly during periods when the executive mayor was absent or unavailable, it added.
“The executive deputy mayor will ensure uninterrupted executive authority in instances where the executive mayor is absent, unavailable or when the office of the executive mayor becomes vacant,” it said.
“The position will assist in sharing the executive workload, improving coordination of municipal programmes and strengthening political oversight of the administration. Through delegated responsibilities, the executive deputy mayor will support the monitoring of service delivery projects, accelerate decision-making and enhance responsiveness to community needs.”
Johannesburg city spokesperson Nthatise Modingoane had not responded to the M&G’s request for comment at the time of publication.
KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head says Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi sent him threatening texts:
KwaZulu-Natal head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) Lesetja Senona has told the Madlanga Commission that he received what he perceived to be threatening text messages from provincial police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi before his testimony.
Senona read out portions of the text exchanges, saying the messages were sent shortly before he was due to testify at the commission, which is probing allegations of corruption and political interference in the criminal justice system.
“And when you get these types of messages, one gets an insinuating situation that says: ‘Don’t talk about this,’” Senona said.
He told the commission that the message conveyed to him was that he should be careful and avoid discussing a meeting he organised between Mkhwanazi and businessman Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
Questioned further by evidence leaders, Senona conceded that Mkhwanazi did not explicitly instruct him not to speak about the meeting but maintained that he, nonetheless, felt intimidated by the tone and content of the messages.
Matlala has told parliament’s ad hoc committee, which is also investigating police corruption, that Senona facilitated a meeting with Mkhwanazi related to a contract. Senona said he did not arrange the meeting but only accompanied Mkhwanazi to meet Matlala.
In the texts, Mkhwanazi seemed concerned that Matlala had lied during testimony before the ad hoc committee.
During the meeting, Matlala informed Mkhwanazi about alleged interactions with police officials and claims that money was being collected using state vehicles. Senona ’s legal representative advised him not to disclose the identities of the individuals mentioned in the messages, warning that doing so could place him in danger.
However, the texts include references to allegations that a house was being used by the currently suspended deputy national commissioner for crime, Shadrack Sibiya, to collect money with state vehicles and that R2 million was paid towards the purchase of Sibiya’s farm.
“I’m still going to that committee and hope [Matlala] doesn’t mind me exposing him to both Sibiya and Mr Y. I hope you won’t blame me for risking his life because I have to tell the truth about our meeting,” Mkhwanazi wrote to Senona .
In another message, Mkhwanazi warned Senona a that he planned to rely on extensive evidence to corroborate his account.
“Besides voice recording, cellular phone and triangulation and my vehicle tracker including access footage will confirm the day and time of our meeting … For his own sake I hope those timelines are in line with what he said before the committee in relation to his arrest,” wrote Mkhwanazi.
“These messages, commissioners, they came as some sort of intimidation to me. What I did was I just screenshot them and sent them to my attorneys,” said Senona .
He added that it was unbecoming for a provincial police commissioner to send such messages to him and confirmed that his attorneys had written to Mkhwanazi, requesting access to the alleged recordings referred to in the texts. Senona said those recordings have not yet been provided.
Senona said he was “rattled” by the messages. He also said he was subsequently redeployed within his office and suspects that was linked to Mkhwanazi.
Earlier on Tuesday Senona denied allegations that he leaked confidential police information to Matlala or improperly used his position as provincial head of the Hawks.
Crime intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo, along with Witness X and Witness C, have previously implicated Senona in allegedly sharing sensitive information and aiding Matlala, who has been linked to claims about a so-called “Big 5 cartel” operating in Gauteng.
On Tuesday Senona rejected the allegations as “malicious, void of truth and amounting to conjecture” and dismissed the existence of the Big 5 cartel. He has also testified that his interactions with Matlala were social and based on information in the public domain.
When matric success meets a closed door: Why higher education must go digital:
You cannot force a square peg into a round hole, as the saying goes.
And yet, at the start of each year , we are confronted with the same images of queues of young people outside the gates of universities and colleges in the (often vain) hope of securing a coveted place.
A place that cannot be guaranteed, because the number of qualified applicants vastly exceeds the number of available spots.
The numbers are stark. Last year there were more than 340,000 bachelor passes recorded countrywide. The number of available spots at public universities? Approximately 235,000.
Likewise, the demand for education and training at the country’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, Community Education and Training colleges continues to outstrip capacity.
As the country celebrates a record 88 per cent National Senior Certificate pass rate and lauds the extraordinary collective effort of learners, educators and families – there is the question of what awaits these learners next.
Having done all that was expected of them; finishing school with good marks, they apply for a university place, then wait hopefully. And year after year the system responds with rejection, or a waiting list.
It is time for an honest reflection on the result of this: frustration, wasted potential, and a growing sense of betrayal.
This is not a new problem. It is a structural one, and it requires structural solutions.
Continuing to rely primarily on brick-and-mortar expansion doesn’t just continue to exclude thousands of capable learners each year; it is also fundamentally dishonest – knowing as we do that the door cannot open wide enough.
As a country we are not keeping up with the times, embracing alternatives to physical tertiary institution attendance including EdTech and e-learning.
The question is not even whether we should, but whether we can afford not to.
Across the globe, from the US to Brazil to China to Singapore to South Korea, countries are investing heavily in EdTech to deliver learning and meet diverse educational needs. As one paper recently noted, India for example has a growing EdTech market “fuelled by a young population, increased internet penetration and a rising demand for affordable educational solutions.”
Online platforms like Coursera, edX and Udacity are enabling students to get recognised certifications from some of the world’s most reputable universities outside of the traditional degree programme.
In South Africa, only a handful of institutions of higher learning offer fully online or hybrid/blended learning options for undergraduate or postgraduate studies, notably UNISA, the University of Johannesburg, the University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, and Nelson Mandela University.
Contrast this to Brazil where distance learning accounted for over 4 million student enrolments in 2022-2023, or to the US where currently more than 5 million college students are studying entirely online.
Nor can we justify being behind this curve by arguing these are uncharted waters.
The COVID-19 pandemic, disruptive as it was, offered an important lesson. Faced with unprecedented constraints, our higher education institutions demonstrated that blended and online learning models are both viable and effective when properly supported.
Universities and TVET colleges adopted multimodal approaches that combined online platforms, printed materials, radio and television broadcasts.
Through interventions such as the zero-rating of academic websites, partnerships to provide affordable data, and the distribution of learning devices, academic programmes were completed under the most difficult conditions imaginable. These were not temporary stopgaps. They were proof of concept.
Digital transformation in education is no longer optional; it is essential to equity, access and sustainability.
We cannot keep trying to force square pegs into round holes, the system needs to change. This is not about embracing innovation for innovation’s sake; it is about producing the workforce our economy needs and not labouring on with outdated approaches to educational delivery that perpetuate exclusion.
Blended learning — that integrates face-to-face teaching with online and digital delivery — allows institutions to expand enrolments without compromising quality. It enables students in rural areas, working students and those with caregiving responsibilities to participate meaningfully in higher education. Most importantly, it shifts the system from one that selects a few, to one that includes the many.
In an article published late last year on the future of higher education in Singapore it was noted that distance learning programmes ‘remove geographical barriers, enabling learners in remote areas or those with mobility challenges to access quality education.’
As Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, I have seen first-hand how strategic investment in ICT infrastructure, coupled with partnerships between government, telecommunications providers and educational institutions, can lower costs and expand access. Over time, the committee has prioritised these interventions precisely because connectivity is no longer a luxury — it is a prerequisite for participation in modern education and the digital economy.
However, technology alone is not enough. What is required now is decisive leadership and institutional commitment. Universities must move beyond treating hybrid learning as an emergency response or a peripheral offering. It must become a central pillar of teaching and learning strategies, supported by curriculum redesign, lecturer training, student support systems and sustainable funding models.
This is a collective responsibility.
Government must continue to create an enabling policy and infrastructure environment.
Regulatory overhaul will be inevitable, including the manner in which online programmes are accredited.
Blended or fully online learning undergraduate or postgraduate programmes that are accredited must be able to qualify for NSFAS funding.
Institutions must innovate boldly.
There will also have to be a societal mid-shift away from the belief that tertiary education is confined to being physically present in a lecture theatre; or that an online qualification carries less weight.
Big Tech must be on board to support the expansion of the digital infrastructure that is needed to deliver more EdTech solutions at scale.
Civil society must hold us all accountable to the principle that access to education should not be determined by geography or income.
Education remains the cornerstone of South Africa’s social and economic development. If we are serious about building an inclusive, skilled and competitive society, we must ensure that every matriculant has a viable pathway forward — whether through university study, vocational training or digitally enabled learning.
The class of 2025 has done its part. It is now up to us to ensure that opportunity does not end at the school gate.
Ms Khusela Sangoni Diko, MP, is the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies.
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