DA mayor brings in the tough guy

JOBURG mayor Herman Mashaba is set to replace outgoing city manager Trevor Fowler with Gauteng DA’s trusted yet feared constituency head in the Vaal, Mike Moriarty, who currently serves as spokesman on finance in the Gauteng Legislature.

Fowler, who has previously served under for mer mayor Parks Tau, is set to see out the remainder of his contract that expires in October.

Mashaba was elected this week during a marathon council sitting in the Joburg City Hall, to replace Tau as the man at the helm.

According to DA members both in the legislature and Joburg council, Moriarty, who holds a degree in civil engineering, is an “ideal man” for the job, but there are also jitters that he will effectively become the “real mayor”.

“He will do a stellar job, no doubt. He understands the politics of the city and will certainly strengthen the mayor’s administration because of his experience and knowledge,” said a DA MPL.

“But he is also not one of the most popular of leaders. He is strict and a disciplinarian. But again to be a city manager you don’t have to be popular because you need to get the job done.”

Another DA member, who asked not to be named, said that given Moriarty’s style of leadership, he may end up dominating all the mayoral committee members (MMCs), even if they were his political principals.

“A lot of DA councillors are afraid of Mike because of his strict leadership. But, to be honest, he has a good relationship with Herman, and the two will form a formidable team.”

Moriarty, who served as the DA campaign’s head in Joburg, was one of the first people to approach Mashaba, then a businessman and ordinary DA member, to convince him to run as mayor.

Yesterday Mashaba announced his team of 10 MMCs to serve his administration for the next five years, and oversee Joburg’s more-than-R30 billion budget.

Mashaba has emphasised that there cannot be shortcuts in running the City of Gold.

Before joining politics fulltime, Moriarty worked as an engineer and project manager at Group 5 Construction.

He has served as councillor since 1994. In January 1997 he became leader of the DA Johannesburg caucus, a position he held till September 2008.

He has also served as the caucus Chief Whip in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.

The Saturday Star sought Moriarty for his comments, but he could not be reached yesterday.