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Corruption and cronyism is killing jobs in Joburg

The ANC-run City of Johannesburg has been plagued by various acts of corruption, fraud and maladministration for far too long under Mayor Parks Tau.

Since 2011, when Tau took office, it has become increasingly clear that the ANC’s commitment to fighting corruption has been void of any genuine transparency or proactivity.

Corruption is an enemy to democracy and a stumbling block to effective service delivery and job creation.

ANC corruption and cronyism is killing jobs in Joburg.

Johannesburg is currently faced with a jobs bloodbath and the ANC government has no effective solutions to this crisis. 869 000 people are currently unemployed in this city.

In fact, while Tau highlights his tenure as a success, 180 000 additional people have joined the ranks of the unemployed since he came into office in 2011. The unemployment rate has increased from 27% to 31% in a space of five years.

25% of the City’s residents live in informal settlements. These are people who are forced to live in conditions so shocking that I have lodged eight complaints with the South African Human Rights Commission, which they have agreed to investigate.

We cannot underestimate the impact that deep-rooted corruption within the ANC is having on this tragic state of affairs.

Tau’s administration has overseen R5.3 billion in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure over his term in office. While Tau claims that things are improving, the facts tell a very different story.

Last year alone, the City saw R4.2 billion of unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

Furthermore, the Auditor-General slated the City for its failure to investigate this misspending as required by law to see whether any of it could be reclaimed.

What is Tau and his ANC cronies trying to hide?

The level of the mismanagement of public money is not just a good indication of the level of corruption endemic to the City of Joburg but a practical explanation of how DA–led municipalities continue to be models of meaningful job-creation and excellent service delivery.

While Joburg lost 24 000 jobs between January and March this year, the DA-run City of Cape Town created an additional 4 000 jobs.

For years entities and officials under the City of Joburg and some businesses have been involved in corruption and this tradition of stealing from the people will stop under a DA government in Johannesburg.

The DA is committed to a clean and honest government, a concept that has become alien to Parks Tau and the ruling party.

The City has been plagued by a billing and revenue collection crisis for several years, which has led to billions of rands worth of lost or written off revenue.

This year alone the finance portfolio wrote off over R8.4 billion in debt. This money could have built over 80 000 houses for the people of Joburg.

In 2014, during his budget vote speech, the former Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Pravin Gordhan, decried the fact that Joburg City officials were colluding with various stakeholders to avoid paying water and electricity bills.

The City was defrauded of R200 million as a result of the fraud committed by individuals and businesses, in the 2013/14 financial year.

It has become increasingly clear that the Mayor’s approach to corruption is reactive and he is stuck in ‘damage control mode’.

The 2014/15 Integrated Annual Report of the City was damning in its finding that the City lacked willingness to ensure transparency in procurement and contract management. Particularly when dealing with city officials and their relatives who do business with the city.

In fact, it is widely alleged that Tau’s wife has links to companies that have won contracts with the City.

The arrest of city officials involved in defrauding the municipality are few and far between while the ANC tradition of distributing resources and contracts to the connected few at the expense of the poor and marginalised continues unabated.

Recently, a Randburg Traffic Department official was exposed for taking a bribe. Despite this being reported to Mayor Parks Tau’s office and a promise for further investigations, the official involved has been moved from one unit to another.

In January 2015 two metro officers who were caught on CCTV camera taking a bribe in Westdene were“stripped of their uniform and sent to do administrative duties”.

The City of Joburg claims to have a zero-tolerance approach to corruption within JMPD, yet, corrupt officials continue to be protected and are deployed to another department.

The Office of the Ombudsman of Johannesburg was launched amidst much fanfare in July last year. The Office is there to ensure that all complaints relating to the City of Joburg is resolved through investigation.

According to the Mayor’s Spokesperson, the City set up the Office of the Ombudsman to deal with such cases of corruption. However, since the establishment of this office in July 2015, very little has been achieved.

As of 30 June 2016, the Ombudsman has only resolved 42% of all complaints filed which is simply unacceptable.

The elections are now one week away and the DA stands a real chance of winning Johannesburg.

If elected Mayor, I will have a zero-tolerance approach to corruption and deal effectively and swiftly with any allegations made against officials or entities under my administration.

The DA will end the scourge of corruption by doing the following:

We will conduct a skills audit of all civil servants under the employment of the City of Joburg. This will ensure that only qualified and ethical people will deal with our people’s resources.

We will open up the tender process to public scrutiny to ensure that tenders are awarded fairly to companies which offer the most value for money.

The DA will also bring an immediate stop to relatives of City officials being able to do business with the City.

Councillors and officials will have to disclose their financial interests every year to ensure there are no conflicts of interest, and we will make this information available to the public.

We will end the deep-rooted corruption in the housing lists, and make the process of selecting beneficiaries transparent, open and fair. The housing list will be available for anyone to see.

The Expanded Public Works Programme will be reviewed. There needs to be a transparent, fair and open database of people seeking EPWP jobs. I can assure you that under my government, nobody will need an ANC membership card to get an EPWP job.

Within my first six months in office we will conduct an integrity assessment of all JMPD officers to ensure that each of them are suitable for the job of protecting and serving the people of Joburg.

We will also fast track investigations into any allegation of corruption against JMPD officials.

Finally, a DA administration will review the Johannesburg Ombudsman By-law to change the office from what it currently is now, a toothless, blind watchdog, to a functional, independent office capable of resolving issues of maladministration and corruption, especially in billing complaints.

On the 03 August, vote for change that will move Johannesburg forward.

Vote for change that will stop corruption, create jobs and ensure better service delivery.

 

Herman Mashaba

DA Mayoral Candidate for Johannesburg

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DA’s diverse councillor candidates ready to bring real change and jobs to Tshwane

Note the editors: The following remarks were made by DA Mayoral Candidate, Solly Msimanga, outside the Tshwane City Hall as he introduced the DA’s candidate councillors who will bring the DA difference to Tshwane.

Today I stand before you in front of City Hall as our journey to free the Capital from the corrupt clutches of the ANC is set to culminate with a DA victory on August 3.

The journey has been a long one, but with the support of my loving family, and a party dedicated to bringing change to Tshwane, I am confident that we can win Tshwane. This will also require that every voter that wants change comes out and votes on 3 August.

With the election less than a week away, the momentum behind the DA’s wave of change grows day by day as change marches on the Capital.

I am immensely proud to stand alongside the DA’s councillor candidates here today at City Hall. The candidates before you are most diverse group of candidates not only in the history of the DA, but of any party in Tshwane.

The candidates before you represent uTata Madiba’s dream of a united, non-racial South Africa that belongs to all.

Together we are ready to govern, to win this City and bring the change Tshwane needs to move forward again.

Together we can bring the change that will stop corruption, deliver better services and create jobs so that the people of this City can live lives of value in a free and fair South Africa.

I have a dream to turn this City into a hub of opprortunity that gives life to the rights and freedoms enshrined in our Constitution. A growing Tshwane that leads the fight against unemployment. A fair Tshwane that does not allow corruption. And a caring Tshwane that is honest and delivers to the poor.

The DA in Tshwane is ready to deliver on that dream and build a united and prosperous Capital.

The blue wave of change is coming, and it will wash the corrupt and uncaring ANC out of power and usher in brighter future for the people of this City.

Together, we will move the Capital City forward again and make it great.

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DA to lodge IEC complaint against desperate ANC over stolen and defaced posters

Note the editors: The following remarks were made by DA Mayoral Candidate, Solly Msimanga, outside Brooklyn Police Station in Pretoria. Msimanga was joined by the DA’s IEC Party Liaison Committee Member for Tshwane, Justus de Goede MPL. Pictures of the posters can be found here, here, here, here and here.

I have today commissioned an affidavit that will serve as the basis for a complaint the DA will lodge against the ANC with the IEC for their continued theft and defacing of DA election posters in Tshwane.

This is nothing more than a desperate attempt by the ANC to slow down the DA’s momentum in Tshwane as it becomes increasingly clear that the DA can win.

While DA posters have been illegally removed in Tshwane for some time now, we have recently come across a number of DA posters that have been defaced by the ANC by sticking their own posters over them.

In one example in particular, a poster of the ANC’s imposed Mayoral Candidate, Thoko Didiza, was pasted over a DA “Vote for Change” poster featuring Mmusi Maimane.

The theft and defacing of election posters is a clear violation of sections 91, 92 and 97 of the Electoral Act and must be condemned in the strongest terms.

These actions of the ANC are not those of a party committed to uTata Madiba’s dream of building a free and fair South Africa with opportunities for all.

Instead they are the actions of a party in decline that has allowed progress in the Capital to stall. Since 2011 unemployment has grown out of control, corruption has infected the City, and service delivery has ground to a halt in many communities.

They are the actions of a party that is staring defeat in the face and will go to any lengths to prevent a loss. A party that has thrown R1 billion at their campaign because they can’t run on their record.

The ANC’s actions once again underscore the need to replace their dishonest and uncaring government with an honest and responsive DA government that will bring the change that Tshwane needs to move forward again.

Change that will deliver jobs to the 517,000 residents of this City who are without work.

Change that will stop the corruption that has lost this City R4.481 billion in unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure since 2011.

Change that will deliver quality services and housing opportunities to the thousands of residents of this City who continue to go without.

On August 3 the DA can win Tshwane and bring the change it needs. Together we can turn this City around and turn it into a hub of opportunity where residents can pursue a life of value.
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Msimanga takes his message of change to thousands of households across Tshwane

Note to editors: The following remarks were made by DA Mayoral Candidate for Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, as he joined DA activists on door to door visits in Soshanguve during the final push to bring change to Tshwane on August 3. Photos of the event can be found here and here.

This week the DA will embark on its largest ground campaign in the history of our party in the City of Tshwane as we continue to take our message of change to thousands of households across this great metro.

With the election a week away, the DA is on the ground in force, sharing our message of honest and responsive government that will create jobs and deliver better services with tens of thousands of residents of this City.

Momentum behind the DA has never been stronger as the ground swell of support grows for the only party capable of turning this City into a hub of opportunity that will break the hold of unemployment that is strangling it.

It troubles me to see how many residents are at home during the day because they do not have jobs and have given up looking.

It troubles me to hear how they are unable to support their loved ones because the ANC government has not delivered the opportunities they deserve.

This is not the life the people of Tshwane deserve; they do not deserve to be held back by a government that has presided over the decline of the Capital.

But the message from the voters I met today is clear: they are tired of an ANC government that no longer fights for the dream of uTata Madiba.

And they are turning in droves to the DA, the torchbearer of Madiba’s dream for an inclusive, non-racial and prosperous South Africa.

The blue wave of change is growing day by day. This is the wave that will bring the change the City of Tshwane desperately needs, and create the jobs that will see it move forward again.

The DA can and will win this City, and it will bring change; change that will stop corruption, deliver better services and create jobs.

Together we can win the Capital and begin to rebuild what the ANC has done its best to destroy.

Together we can make history and get the Capital back on track to being great.

 

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If Johannesburg works, South Africa works

Note to editors: The following speech was made by DA Mayoral Candidate for Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, at the DA’s Johannesburg “We Can Win” Final Rally held at the Johannesburg City Hall. Mashaba was joined by DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane MP, DA Gauteng Provincial Leader, John Moodey MPL, DA Chief Whip in the Gauteng Legislature, Mike Moriarty MPL, and DA Johannesburg Regional Chairperson, Khume Ramulifho MPL.

In a week’s time, on the 3rd of August, the people of this City have one of the most important decisions to make since 1994.

The people of this City have the power to determine their own futures.

The people of Jozi have the opportunity to vote for change.

Change that will stop corruption, create jobs and deliver better services.

I have visited every corner of our City over the past seven months, and I have heard from the people of Joburg that they are hungry for change.

Initially the ANC made progress, but it has stalled. We need change to move Johannesburg forward again.

Because if Johannesburg works, South Africa works.

I know that you are sick and tired of broken promises and lies.

I know that the ANC has humiliated, and ignored far too many of you for far too long.

I want to tell you today, that it is you who have kept me going over the past seven months.

People who despite having been given up on by the ANC government, refuse to give up on themselves.

I am asking you to trust me to lead this City on the 3rd of August.

Give me the chance – give the DA the chance – to move this City forward.

In 1994 I was determined that people would know the difference their votes could make in their lives and so I funded a national voter education campaign through my business, Black Like Me.

Today, 22 years later, I am more determined than ever to ensure that people understand that their vote can and will change their lives.

What are you voting for on the 3rd of August?

Are you voting because you want to support a liberation party that has lost its moral compass and through corruption, steals from the very people they liberated?

OR

Are you voting because you want a brighter future? A future where job creation is the number one priority of the government. A future where better quality services are provided to all the people of this city. A future without corruption.

This election is an opportunity for the voters of Johannesburg to take back control of their lives.

To take back the votes you have given to a government whose leader has laughed at you. A government who has placed its own interests ahead of the people it is meant to serve.

I don’t know about you, but I am not laughing.

Instead, I shake my head in despair at the unnecessary human suffering I encounter every single day in Johannesburg.

However, disappointment is not going to achieve anything positive.

Positive actions achieve positive results.

I started my business career at the age of 22, culminating with the birth of Black Like Me in 1985.

In the dark days of Apartheid, the government did everything to prevent a black person from succeeding.

I did not let any of that stop me. I established my business in Garankuwa with a loan from a black businessman and took on a white chemist as a partner.

Because the one certainty that I have always had is that I will never allow anyone – and most certainly not the government – to decide how my life is going to turn out.

I have always believed that true freedom is the opportunity for each person to be whatever he or she wants to be. It was this belief that drove me to succeed in business, and it is this belief that now drives me as I run for public office.

I am running for Mayor of Johannesburg, because I want to help rebuild this City.

Because if Johannesburg works, South Africa works.

I am running for mayor because I feel that it is time to give back to the people of Johannesburg by serving them.

I have a positive vision and plan for this City.

I am going to use all my business acumen, networks, and skills to ensure that you get the city you deserve.

I know that dignity has demands – jobs, houses, quality services, healthcare and an efficient JMPD that serves and protects the people of this city.

I recognise that, and I have undertaken to ensure that these needs are prioritised.

I believe that a home with access to basic services for everyone is non-negotiable.

As Mayor I will ensure that thousands of title deeds are given to people in my first year in office so that they have the dignity of a proper home which can be passed on to their children.

As mayor, I will also end the deep-rooted corruption in the housing lists, and make the process of selecting beneficiaries transparent, open and fair. The housing list will be available for anyone to see.

A DA government will prioritse the upgrading of informal settlements.

In Kwa Mai-Mai I have met men and women who share a single toilet and a single water pump among thousands of residents. I will not rest until we provide dignified sanitation, upgraded sewerage infrastructure, and reliable water and electricity to all settlements.

I have heard anguish in the voices of men and women who go from Kya Sands to Wynberg looking for jobs day in and day out.

869 000 men and women are unemployed in our City.

Every single day, at least 750 people in Johannesburg are added to the list of the unemployed.

Johannesburg needs a bright new vision to deal effectively with the unemployment crisis.

If Johannesburg works, South Africa works.

For too long the current Mayor, Parks Tau has ignored the unemployment crisis.

His flagship jobs programmes, Jozi@work and Vulindlel’eJozi have done nothing to slow down the jobs bloodbath.

You see, the problem is that Tau and his ANC cronies believe that government can create jobs on their own.

A government’s actual role in job-creation, is to create an enabling environment for businesses to establish themselves, flourish, and thereby create permanent jobs.

I am here to tell those of you who are unemployed, please do not give up hope.

Because on the 4th of August, if elected Mayor, job creation will be my number one priority.

I am going to put the ‘JOB’ back into Joburg.

Because if Johannesburg works, South Africa works.

How am I going to do this?

One of my top priorities is to professionalise the public service by hiring the very best people to run a city that attracts investment and creates jobs.

Small businesses create jobs. That is why small business development will be the focus of my term in office.

I will cut the red tape, subsidise city-owned property rentals, and carve up big contracts and tenders, so that small businesses can participate in the City’s economy.

I am going to place unskilled residents into skills programmes to build their confidence and their skills and get them into jobs where they can develop and grow.

The Expanded Public Works Programme will be reviewed. There needs to be a transparent, fair and open database of people seeking EPWP jobs. I can assure you that under my government, nobody will need an ANC membership card to get an EPWP job.

From Dobsonville to Lenasia I have met young parents who cannot work because they have nobody to look after their young children.

I will work with the private sector to develop early learning day care centres in townships across Johannesburg. This will allow moms and dads to return to work knowing that their children are being cared for.

For too long too many of Johannesburg’s civil servants have offered extremely poor service. On the 4th of August change is coming.

People who work for our City are going to offer top-class service. They are going to offer service with pride.

This change in attitude is going to extend to the JMPD. The days of turning a blind eye to JMPD officers accepting bribes or unlawfully harassing motorists about their E-toll payments will be gone. Their commitment must be to fighting crime, upholding the law, and protecting everyone.

For months on end, Johannesburg residents were expected to live in filth while Pikitup workers went on strike. The ANC government has used Pikitup as a means to line the pockets of their cronies.

That is not going to happen on my watch.

When the DA is in government, we are going to breakup Pikitup.

I am going to carve up that big tender into seven smaller contracts, so that small businesses have a chance to participate in the economy.

A healthy city is a working city.

I will ensure that clinics are properly resourced and staffed. Clinics will also be opened 24 hours a day to ensure that no one is turned away and residents are able to visit their clinic after work.

The ANC is absolutely correct when they say I am not a politician.

I am not.

And I do not want to be considered a politician.

My motivation for entering public office is to serve the residents of Johannesburg.

I am not doing so because I am a political expert, I am doing so because I am a successful businessman, an entrepreneur, and that, I believe, is what qualifies me to run the economic engine room of the country.

I am a businessman who has never compromised on the quality of the services and products my businesses have offered.

I want to bring my brand of job creation to Johannesburg on the 4th of August, and I want to get this City working again.

Because when Johannesburg works, South Africa works.

The DA has a real chance of winning Johannesburg on the 3rd of August.

We can win and bring change to this City, but only if every one of our supporters gets out on Election Day and votes.

The 3rd of August is one of the most important dates in our democratic history.

Spread the message to your friends and family. Do not let anyone think that their vote is worthless.

Together we can bring change to the City of Johannesburg.

Together we can bring change that creates jobs, delivers better services and fights corruption.

Together we can make this a City of golden opportunities.

On the 3rd of August, vote for change that moves Johannesburg forward.

Vote for the DA.
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Minister Peters confirms that the ANC is the party of job-killing E-tolls

Transport Minister, Dipuo Peters, has come out in defence of E-tolls, following the DA’s expressed commitment to fight E-tolls in Johannesburg, Ekhurhuleni and Tshwane when we are given the opportunity to govern after the August 3 Local Government Elections.

This is clear confirmation that the ANC is firmly in support of E-tolls, and does not care about the job-killing impact of E-tolls in Gauteng.

The DA will remain steadfast in exploring all legal remedies to ensure that that the tolling of our roads is done in a consultative manner and one that does not steal from Gauteng residents even further.

This comes after Minister Peters lashed out, arrogantly asserting that nothing can be done to remove E-tolls. However, the Minister must be reminded that where the DA governs in the Western Cape, we have successfully fought against E-tolls and we have won. We intend to do the same for the residents of Gauteng.

This project is likely to cost the tax-payer billions of rands  that could have been used to actually maintain roads and create jobs, but has made it more expensive for the poor to travel to work, has hurt small businesses, driven up food prices, and undermined job creation. It has been an opportunity-killing move by an uncaring government.

The ANC government, under President Zuma’s leadership, has introduced countless projects that have cost billions of rands, but have lacked the political will and commitment to effect real change for the benefit of all South Africans.

Like many of the ANC’s “well-intentioned and ill-implemented” projects, E-tolling was rammed through without due public consultation by the ANC government.

It was an uncaring ANC government that ignored, with contempt, the opposition to it by people across the province and it is a responsive DA that has heeded those calls.

As such the DA has pledged to the people of Gauteng that when we govern after 3 August 2016, we will ramp-up the fight against E-tolls by:

  • Blocking any further attempts by SANRAL to introduce new toll roads;
  • Immediately explore legal options available to us, to declare an intergovernmental dispute, to stop this continued theft from our residents;
  • Standing up to harassment of residents – under a DA government, Metro Police will not be allowed to harass motorists regarding E-toll payments; and
  • Fighting for residents during consultation on existing tolling tariffs, to prevent increases that will kill opportunities in Gauteng.

In the first quarter of 2016, the Metros of Tshwane, Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni saw a collective 216, 000 join the ranks of the unemployed. In this job crisis, government should be ensuring that it not only creates jobs, but also ensure that it does not hinder job creation and place burdens on the poor and most vulnerable.

E-tolls were proudly brought to Gauteng by the ANC. Now voters can start the fight against E-tolls by removing the ANC on 3 August 2016.

We urge Gauteng the residents to vote against e-tolls and vote DA for CHANGE that will create jobs and move the province, and the country forward again.

 

 

John Moodey MPL

DA Gauteng Provincial Leader

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Madiba’s dream is for unity, not Zuma’s racial division

Note to editor: The following remarks were made by the DA’s Mayoral Candidate for Tshwane, Solly Msimanga, outside the Union Buildings this morning at the unveiling of a new DA poster. Msimanga was joined by the Leader of the DA, Mmusi Maimane MP.

In 1994, uTata Madiba ushered in our new democratic order with the following words:

“We know it well that none of us acting alone can achieve success. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.”

The ANC of today is not the ANC of uTata Madiba. It is not the ANC that once stood for inclusivity and freedom for all. It is a self-serving ANC that preaches racial division and has become infected by corruption.

The ANC have tried their utmost to divide South Africans for the upcoming election on the basis of race, reversing much of the progress made in the early days of democracy.

The ANC of today is not the party that will move this City forward. The truth is that the DA is the only party that represents the united and inclusive South Africa.

As the most diverse party in the country, the DA is the only party that has consistently grown since 1994, and it is clear that the DA is the now the true torchbearer of Madiba’s dream.

The momentum growing behind the blue wave in Tshwane is living proof of the rejection of the attempts by the ANC to mobilise voters along racial lines.

I look forward to August 3 when that blue wave will crash on the steps of City Hall and wash the corrupt and uncaring ANC out of office.

The DA can win this City and bring the change it deserves. The DA is the only party with a proven track record of cutting corruption, delivering better services and creating jobs.

Together we can and will win the City of Tshwane and empower it residents to realise their full potential.

 

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Mashaba: I want to bring my brand of business to the City of Joburg

Note to editors: The following is an extract from a speech delivered by the DA’s Johannesburg Mayoral Candidate, Herman Mashaba, during a press conference in Tshwane where DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane MP, outlined the Party’s plan for job creation at local government level. Also in attendance at the press conference were DA Mayoral Candidates for Tshwane, Solly Msimanga MPL, and Ekurhuleni, Ghaleb Cachalia.

I have been where the 869 000 unemployed Johannesburg residents find themselves today. I have been poor, and I have been hungry. I have been in the position of drinking water to fight off hunger.

In 1985, I decided that if I was ever going to be hungry again, it would be because of my own actions, not because the apartheid government decided for me. I would not allow anyone to determine my future and so I started a business.

Today, I am again resolute not to allow my future to be determined by the corrupt and self-serving ANC government.

This once great liberation movement is today morally and ethically bankrupt, and it has dismally failed to find solutions to the unemployment crisis facing our country.

For too long the City of Joburg’s Mayor, Parks Tau has ignored the unemployment crisis.

Under his watch the unemployment rate has risen from 27% to 31%. Every single day, at least 750 people in Johannesburg are added to the list of the unemployed.

The jobs bloodbath in Joburg is a scar on Tau’s record. He has failed each and every one of those 869 000 people and his silence on this crisis is deafening.

I am the DA’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, because I know what it takes to run a successful business, and I am going to use those skills to grow Johannesburg’s economy and create jobs.

The ANC is absolutely correct when they say I’m not a politician.

I am not.

And I can tell you now, that I do not want to be considered a politician.

My motivation for entering public office is to serve the residents of Johannesburg.

I am not doing so because I am a political expert, I am doing so because I am a successful businessman, an entrepreneur, and that, I believe, is what qualifies me to run the economic engine room of the country – the City of Johannesburg.

Any government who believes they can create jobs on their own is misguided.

Let’s take a moment to consider how that has worked out for the ANC. The only job-creation that the ANC can take credit for, is the bloated civil service, where they have stuffed their incompetent cronies into our public institutions.

A government’s actual role in job-creation, is to create an enabling environment for businesses to establish themselves, flourish, and thereby create permanent jobs.

If elected mayor, job creation will be my number one priority. I am going to put the ‘JOB’ back into Joburg.

The first thing I am going to do is professionalise the public service by hiring the very best people to run a city that attracts investment and creates jobs.

I am going to increase spending on job-creating infrastructure like roads, electricity, housing, and transport by R1 billion over the short term.

Small businesses create jobs. I will cut the red tape, subsidise city-owned property rentals, and prioritise small businesses in City procurement.

I will carve up big contracts and tenders, so that small businesses can participate in the city’s economy.

I accept that not all job-seekers have skills.

I will expand employment opportunities to this group of people by providing “schools to skills” programmes, where school-leavers will be trained in how to handle the world of a business-leading city economy.

I will provide free transport allowances and Wi-Fi for job seekers and ensure that nobody needs an ANC membership card to get an EPWP job.

I will work with the private sector to develop early learning day care centres in townships across Johannesburg. This will allow moms and dads to return to work knowing that their children are being cared for.

I am a businessman who has never compromised on the quality of the services and products my businesses have offered.

I want to bring my brand of business to Johannesburg on the 4th of August, and I want to get the city working again.

Because when Johannesburg works, South Africa works.

 

Herman Mashaba

DA Mayoral Candidate for Johannesburg

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Masina turns RDP hand over into ANC electioneering stunt

ANC Mayoral Candidate, Mzwandile Masina, has brazenly abused state resources by handing over RDP houses in Alra Park, near Nigel in Ekurhuleni, as an ANC campaign event on Monday 18 June 2016.

RDP houses built by the state for beneficiaries should have been handed over by metro officials in Ekurhuleni branding, not the ANC’s mayoral candidate in ANC garb.

The Public Protector has previously ruled that the handing out of food parcels sponsored by the state by the ANC was an abuse of public resources for party political campaigning.

Masina has previously been vicious in his attacks on Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, and his act of defiance clearly demonstrates that he feels he is above the rule of law.

Masina clearly takes us cue from the man who deployed him as the ANC’s mayoral candidate – Jacbo Zuma.

Masina had the audacity to even post pictures of the handover on his Twitter feed on the 19th of July – as he clearly feels that there will be no consequences for his actions.

To view pictures click here.

It is clear that Masina does not understand the concept of separation of party and state, and like Zuma, will treat citizens money as his own personal bank account if given the chance to occupy the mayor’s office.

As mayor, I would strongly respect the principle of separation of party and state, and govern in the interests of all citizens, unlike the ANC.

Houses and EPWP jobs would not be reserved for ANC members, but open to all regardless of political affiliation.

The DA is the only party that respects the rule of law, the Public Protector and the people of Ekurhuleni. Only the DA can deliver the change that will improve people’s lives in the city.

The DA will be lodging a complaint with the Public Protector to investigate Masina and the ANC for this flagrant abuse of state resources to benefit a political party.

 

Ghaleb Cachalia

DA Mayoral Candidate for Ekurhuleni

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Didiza running away from public debates with the DA

With just 2 weeks to go before the August 3 elections, the DA has learned that the ANC’s imposed Mayoral Candidate for Tshwane, Thoko Didiza, has once again opted out of taking part in a televised public debate.

Instead the ANC has again despatched outgoing Mayor Ramokgopa to defend their failures, lies and broken promises on both the eNCA debate this evening, as well as in tomorrow morning’s debate hosted by kykNET.

In fact, Didiza is yet to take part in a single public debate since she was deployed to Tshwane by President Zuma. What is Didiza hiding from?

Today I would like to challenge Didiza to come out of hiding and debate the ANC’s record in the Capital and her plans for the City.

Come and debate the ANC’s unemployment record in the Capital that saw 40,000 residents of Tshwane join the ranks of the jobless in the first quarter of 2016 alone.

Come and debate the ANC’s service delivery record that has left informal settlements without access to water and sanitation, and forced them to resort to illegal electrical connections because the City has not provided an alternative.

Come and debate the corruption endemic to the ANC in Tshwane that costs the City billions and reserves EPWP jobs and housing opportunities for those connected to the ANC.

With the elections fast approaching, the people of Tshwane deserve to know who they are voting for on August 3.

Instead of hiding behind Sputla, Didiza must give the people of Tshwane the opportunity to decide who will really bring the change our City needs to move forward again.

Change is marching on the Capital as momentum grows behind the DA. On August 3 the DA can win Tshwane and bring change that will stop corruption, deliver better services and create jobs.

Solly Msimanga

DA Mayoral Candidate for Tshwane

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