The African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng said on Wednesday that it backed Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo and then it announced the dissolution of the Regional Executive Council (REC).

"The ANC Gauteng provincial council has taken a firm decision to dissolve the Johannesburg regional executive committee," said provincial secretary David Makhura at a press briefing in Johannesburg.

Makhura said that the REC was ridden with divisions and was dysfunctional.

"As part of the REC descending into total madness they wanted to recall the mayor," said Makhura.

Makhura also said that the REC had failed to convene meetings and was preoccupied with deployments.

"If you are aligned to the right people you can do anything you want. People disrupt meetings and rent a mob," said Makhura.

The Star newspaper reported on Wednesday the decision to suspend Masondo and city manager Mavela Dlamini, and to dissolve the REC was prompted by an internal report by an ANC task team on financial problems and alleged financial mismanagement in several infrastructural projects in the city.