A heated confrontation over ongoing electricity problems in Tshepisong saw Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero tell a resident he was “talking sh**t”, before later apologising for his remarks.
Image: Social Media
City of Johannesburg Mayor Dada Morero has apologised after telling a Tshepisong resident not to “talk sh**t” during a heated electricity imbizo in the Roodepoort township.
The incident occurred on Thursday at the Abundant Faith Christian Centre during a meeting led by the city’s power utility, City Power.
Also in attendance were MMC for the Environment and Infrastructure Services Department Jack Sekwaila, City Power acting CEO Charles Tlouane and other officials.
The imbizo was held amid concerns raised by residents and local councillors following the initial withdrawal of electricity services in the area.
City Power withdrew its technical restoration and maintenance services following low electricity vending rates, widespread illegal connections, vandalism, sabotage, tampering and resistance to its network normalisation process.
The engagement was aimed at addressing residents’ electricity-related concerns and providing updates on interventions to improve service delivery.
During the session, residents voiced their frustrations over the impact of the electricity challenges, with tensions eventually escalating between Morero and one resident.
In a video widely circulated on social media, Morero can be seen clashing with a resident, believed to be a man, for allegedly calling him a criminal.
“Don’t call me a criminal. What are you saying? Don’t call me a criminal. No, I am not a criminal,” Morero says, as residents can be heard mumbling in the background.
“Don’t ever do that again. Don’t ever do that again. You are old. Don’t do that again. I’m not a criminal.”
“Don’t say that again. No, don’t say it again,” Morero says.
Residents can then be heard shouting loudly, with some appearing to defend the resident.
Morero subsequently lost his temper and told the resident, “You’re talking sht. You’re talking sht.”
He repeated the remark as residents continued to shout in the background.
“If you can’t respect other people, we will also not respect you. We have the same capacity as yours,” Morero said.
“We started off on the wrong foot because of this man’s comment,” he added.
Morero’s comments drew mixed reactions on social media, with some users saying residents were frustrated by ongoing service-delivery challenges in the city.
However, Morero later apologised for his conduct during the meeting.
“During the course of the meeting, emotions went high between myself and one of the participants and I would like to profusely and unconditionally apologise for my utterances which were made this morning at the meeting,” Morero said.
“It should not have been done in that fashion, and I do take full responsibility. Over and above, I did have a word or two with the resident concerned and the meeting accepted my apology.”
“I do apologise for the conduct of that meeting and thank you,” he said.
Opposition parties in Johannesburg condemned Morero’s comments.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said Morero’s conduct was unbecoming of an executive mayor and reflected poor leadership and a failure to exercise the restraint and respect expected of a public representative.
“Residents have the right to criticise elected officials and demand answers about service delivery, and such criticism may at times not be perfectly delivered,” the EFF said.
EFF Gauteng spokesperson Dumisani Baleni said community imbizos should provide a safe and respectful platform for engagement, rather than spaces where residents are humiliated or verbally attacked for expressing their frustrations.
“This incident is especially concerning as communities across Johannesburg continue to face serious service-delivery challenges. Residents need responsive leadership that listens to their concerns and provides solutions, rather than political office-bearers who respond to criticism with insults,” he said.
Meanwhile, City Power said last month that it had taken the difficult decision to withdraw all technical restoration and maintenance services in Tshepisong because of continued acts of sabotage, widespread illegal connections and repeated unlawful reconnections of infrastructure that had not yet been commissioned.
The power utility said there had been repeated incidents in which community members illegally reconnected newly installed pole-mounted transformers and threw wires onto electricity lines to deliberately trip the network.
It said these actions placed lives at risk, damaged critical infrastructure and undermined efforts to restore a safe and sustainable electricity supply.
City Power said the network normalisation process remained challenging, adding that 97% of customers in Tshepisong were not purchasing electricity.
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