GOOD Speech by Matthew Cook,
GOOD National Chairperson & City of Johannesburg Councillor
29 January 2026
*Note to Editor: This speech was delivered during the City of Johannesburg Municipality Council Meeting
Speaker, let me be clear at the outset – this is not a debate about whether the law allows for an Executive Deputy Mayor. It does.
The real question before us is whether this is necessary, appropriate, and responsible now — and on that question, I am not persuaded.
Johannesburg is less than a year away from local government elections.
We are operating in a period of political transition, fiscal strain, and declining public trust.
At such a moment, Council must exercise restraint, not expansion.
The City’s challenges are not rooted in a lack of executive titles.
They lie in weak administration, instability, poor coordination, and an inability to consistently implement decisions already taken.
Creating a new political office does not, on its own, resolve any of those problems.
We are being asked to approve a full-time executive position at a cost of over R1.28 million per year, without clear, enforceable performance outcomes, without a time-bound mandate, and without evidence that existing executive structures have been exhausted or properly evaluated.
Continuity of leadership is important — but continuity should be institutional, not dependent on adding another political office.
If the absence of an Executive Mayor creates governance risk, then the real issue lies in delegation frameworks, administrative resilience, and succession planning — not in titles.
We must also be honest about the political context, establishing a new executive post so close to an election risks creating the perception — fair or not — that Council is prioritising political accommodation over service delivery.
At a time when residents are struggling with outages, infrastructure failures, and unsafe neighbourhoods, this is not the signal we should be sending.
Good governance is not about how many people sit at the top.
It is about clarity of roles, accountability, and delivery on the ground.
Nothing in this report convincingly demonstrates that this proposal will materially improve outcomes for residents within the remaining term of this Council.
For these reasons, I believe the responsible position is not to reject this idea outright, but to say not at this stage.
Let the next Council — with a fresh mandate from voters — assess its executive needs holistically, transparently, and in line with a longer-term governance vision.
Johannesburg needs stability, discipline, and delivery — not last-minute structural changes that carry cost without certainty.
I therefore cannot support this item at this time.
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