PPP needed for Manie Mulder Adventure Park to prevent further drownings

We would like to express our sincere condolences to the family of the person who drowned at the Manie Mulder Adventure Park in Roodepoort. This is the fourth drowning in the past few months, and we call on the City to put a clear plan in place to prevent further tragedies. This is particularly important with the upcoming Easter long weekend which will see a greater number of religious activities and attendees at the facility.

To date the MMC for Community Development, Cllr Margaret Arnolds, has ignored requests for details about the number of drownings at this facility, and has failed to come up with any clear plan to prevent further drownings. Proper security measures would go a long way in controlling access and ensuring proper supervision around the water, but the department has consistently failed to spend its security budget.

The DA strongly supports a plan for a Public-Private Partnership to help run and maintain this facility, which would have brought all interested parties together to realise the full potential of the park and make it a source of pride for the local community. This would have included residents groups (friends of facilities), NGOs, religious organisations, and traditional healers. There should be education around conservation in this protected area so that it can be preserved and enjoyed for generations to come. We also need properly trained park rangers who can help to control access and stay alert to potential dangers to visitors.

We would like to urge visitors visiting the Manie Mulder Adventure Park not to swim after dark or at midnight, and to adhere to the times allowed to enter the park during the upcoming Easter long weekend.

Joburg Mayor on deadline to respond on cadre recruitment

City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor, Cllr Geoff Makhubo, has failed to respond to the 11 March letter concerning the increase in the number of political staff and the irregular decision to make them all permanent. He has now received a formal legal request from the DA’s attorneys for all details relating to this matter to be provided by the close of business on 19 March.

When the ANC took over the City on 29 November 2019, they immediately set about swelling the political offices with loyal cadres to reward their alliance partners and provide jobs for pals. The Mayor’s Office increased from 38 staff under the DA to over 100, while MMC offices doubled from five to ten. All of these staff are on higher pay grades despite lacking the required qualifications. These include MK veterans and former ANC and PA councillors who didn’t make it back into Council.

The excuse given by the Mayor’s Spokesperson that this is to pr The excuse given by the Mayor’s Spokesperson that this is to provide job security to young, junior staff, doesn’t
hold water. No other branch of government in the country employs political staff on a permanent basis, and anyone employed to support politicians signs their contract knowing fully that their employment is tied to the term of office of their political principal. The Mayor cannot expect us to believe that a Deputy Director on a R870 000 annual salary is a junior staff member.

The further claim that the Mayor has the power to effect this decision also goes against the Municipal Systems Act, and the City’s own policies on staff recruitment. There is no proof that the former City Manager, Dr Ndivhoniswani Lukhwareni, approved the additional staff, though it does perhaps account for why an “arrangement” was made for him to leave so abruptly. With the City Manager out of the way and Council not been given the opportunity to appoint an acting City Manager, the Mayor is free to do as he pleases.

Residents of Johannesburg can count on the DA to fight this issue and ensure that their money is spent on deserving, dedicated people that put service delivery to residents first.

Traders and beggars take control of traffic during load shedding

The only thing worse than sitting in congested traffic in Johannesburg is sitting in congested traffic during load shedding. Even with the reduced two-hour period of load shedding, the impact on traffic is significant. This has prompted an innovative but dangerous activity at intersections where street traders and people who beg at intersections have taken on the role of informal pointsmen.

On Saturday I drove past the intersection on Cedar and Uranium Roads in Fourways. The traffic lights were out due to load shedding and a group of four men were doing their best to direct traffic whilst another was busy collecting donations from passing motorists. We do appreciate their efforts in trying to ease traffic congestion but such acts are extremely dangerous and could lead to accidents and multiple civil liabilities.

The Road Traffic Act already prohibits people from standing in the road to trade or beg at intersections, and only permits those who are qualified and appointed as traffic officers to direct traffic. In the event of a vehicle collision as a result of the driver taking directions from an unqualified pointsman, both the driver and the unqualified pointsman could be held civilly and criminally liable for the loss, injury and even death.

The Gauteng Traffic Police (GTP) and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) need to take joint responsibility for reducing traffic congestion, especially during load shedding. We propose an effective and simple solution: follow the load shedding schedule and plan for the deployment of traffic pointsmen to affected busy intersections before the load shedding starts.

We need the City to be proactive in solving issues. A wider traffic pointsmen recruitment and training programme will go a long way in easing Johannesburg traffic and create many opportunities for unemployed residents.

City capture looms for Joburg residents as ANC drives cadre recruitment

As the country’s unemployment rate rockets to record highs of 42.6%, where at least half of the population is struggling to make ends meet, the ANC in the City of Johannesburg is planning to more than double the number of political staff and make them permanent at a cost of over R200 million over the next year. The ANC clearly needs to recruit cadres who can swell the election campaign coffers when it is well known that the party is bankrupt.

Political staff across all spheres of government are linked to the term of office of the politician they serve – no one can expect to keep their job when there is a potential change every five years from elections, or even from a cabinet reshuffle. Political staff are always well-paid to compensate them for this risky environment.

When the DA assumed government in 2016 we found the Mayor’s Office bloated with ANC cadres, most of whom had no qualifications and used their City salary to work for the ANC or run businesses on the side. We followed up on our election manifesto promises and hired staff with proper qualifications and put in place real performance agreements.

When the ANC crept back into government in 2019 they promptly inflated their offices with 58 staff, most of them former ANC Councillors who hadn’t made the cut or entire groups of ANCYL members from the Mayor’s faction. Now that number is set to rise to at least 120, with many more set to join the City’s ranks. This includes a unit for military veterans where those loyal to the Mayor’s faction earn R1 million salaries to do work for the ANC.

When the DA attempted to get the Mayor to come clean about the staff in his office, he hid behind the Protection of Personal Information Act, claiming that accounting for his decisions and confirming staff qualifications was a violation of their privacy. This dubious legal position was no doubt put forward by his legal advisor, Mcebo Dlamini, a convicted criminal who is barred from practicing law and is living in South Africa illegally (and who was hired in violation of City policy).

As of 1 March 2021 the Mayor has made all political staff permanent – apparently under the assumption that he has the power to do this, and in the face of the fact that this goes against labour legislation, the City’s own policies of recruitment, and the Municipal Systems Act which places this responsibility with the City Manager. It makes sense now why the Mayor has purged the former City Manager, Dr Ndivhoniswani Lukhwareni, who was allegedly resisting this illegal cadre deployment.

So where is the money coming from to fund this ambitious project of city capture? In the recent adjustment budget the ANC cut R200 million meant to buy fire engines (the City has only two) and swelled the budget by a further R300 million, which is largely aimed at staff expenses. The DA voted against this abuse of residents’ money, calling for the budget to be spent on rates relief and reduced tariffs.

I will challenge these illegal actions by writing to the Mayor, the Gauteng MEC for Co-operative Governance, and to Minister Mboweni for immediate investigation into this matter which could financially cripple the City. Failing this I will have to explore a legal option. State capture has all but destroyed the ability of SOEs to provide vital services, and now Johannesburg is threatened by city capture in a similar guise. Residents deserve an honest, well-run City that hires competent and qualified staff who put residents before party politics, and are committed to real service delivery.

DA welcomes opening of Joburg Market Opportunity Centre

Yesterday I attended the official opening of the Opportunity Centre at the Joburg Fresh Produce Market in City Deep which lies within Ward 57. This was a key DA initiative based on our campaign promises from 2016 which were to provide one-stop shops to assist and empower entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the City.

This Opportunity Centre is the eleventh in the City and is aimed at providing advice, coaching, and workshops which include starting up and running your own business, tax compliance, and marketing. Partners providing these workshops include Sars, Absa, and Saica. With thousands of tons of fresh produce bought and sold daily that amounts to over R4bn in turnover last year and with produce coming in from across the SADC region, the Joburg Market is a hive of activity for business.

Another key DA initiative which has sadly stalled under the ANC is the R150 million investment in the Mandela Market, which is targeted at small businesses in the food industry. We know that almost all fresh produce sold in the Inner City comes from the Joburg Market and this investment combined with the Opportunity Centre is the ideal platform for supporting the regional food economy.

I look forward to seeing the Joburg Market grow and expand its offerings for entrepreneurs and small businesses, not just in Ward 52 but across the entire City. This initiative shows that the DA is committed to a well-run City that puts residents first.

Residents on the Joburg housing waiting list have been waiting for nothing

As we approach the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the 1996/97 housing waiting list for the City of Johannesburg, it is sad that those residents of Johannesburg who are supposed to be on the list still have no access to a verified and transparent version. While there have been several attempts over the years to verify the information contained in the housing waiting list and release the list, this has never been happened

In 2016 the DA administration verified and consolidated all relative information into an updated housing waiting list. It was then and is still vital to verify this list against the information held by the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements (GDHS), from whom the funding for RDP housing flows. Despite our best efforts the GDHS never came to the table.

It has now been confirmed by the MMC for Housing, Cllr Mabaso, that the two lists have been aligned and what the City believed was a waiting list of some 275 000 residents, is in actual fact a list of 468 000 residents. These people are awaiting confirmation that their application for subsidised housing has been recorded on the City’s waiting list.

The MMC now wants to stall further by claiming that he needs to get approval from the National Minister for Human Settlements, which is not part of any process. All the City needs to do is check their list against the national one to make sure no one has already received a subsidy. The Minister had admitted that there is no more money to build RDP houses, so those 468 000 have been waiting for nothing.

The City should be using the same system employed in the Western Cape, where there is an app and online portal available to residents to log their request for subsidised housing and update their details on the central Housing Demand Database. This list is fully transparent and eliminates the corruption that has been a feature of housing provision since 1994, while still protecting personal information.

I call on the MMC to implement the Western Cape model as a commitment to clean and honest government which all residents of Johannesburg deserve. Those who have been waiting since 1996 should be prioritised for any subsidised housing that the City can offer.

Dealing with the headache of faulty Joburg Water meters

Joburg Water has become infamous for the number of billing queries attached to their accounts. I would like to provide residents with an overview of how these billing problems have come about and how you can address them.

There are a number of reasons for incorrect billing, such as continuous estimated bills due to meters not being read. These estimates are often in contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act as they are for more than three months at a time.

The old meters also have an inherent fault in that if the pipes are full of air and this is released at speed by the resident they spin out of control, or grit can cause the wheels to stick together and turn as one. Both of these faults can result in massive bills.

One such account showed a single month consumption of R36 000, but to rectify this mistake took over two years due to an obstructive system and terrible attitude by the City.

First the resident logged a dispute which had to be done in person at a walk-in centre and was recorded by the billing department. This flags the account for a period of 60 days but it needs to be re-submitted every month to avoid having the service terminated.

The immediate response from billing was to ask the resident to check if there was no leak on the property. After a protracted to and fro they then advised the resident to have the meter tested at his cost even though as it only happened once, it was clear that the meter would not show a fault. Legally the city should pay for the test as the meter is their property.

The callous lack of understanding of the technical aspects relating to the meters would have resulted in the owner being faced with having to pay an irregular overcharge of R36 000 plus interest. The resident then contacted me and I was able to advise about these technical issues and how to engage the City.

Subsequent meeting with the management of the billing department they denied that there were any interruptions of service. However I was able to prove that there were 21 outages during the specified time.

They then insisted that they could only pass a credit once an instruction was issued by Joburg Water. Had they admitted this shortfall on their behalf in the beginning several months could have been saved.

After several meetings with Joburg Water their technical department finally checked the account history which the City’s billing department couldn’t access as they both use different computer systems which can’t talk to each other. Their comment was that even if there was a leak this amount would have resulted in a body of water the size of Zoo Lake.

As the account also showed no further similar overcharges they deducted that the meter wheels had stuck together and the charge was due to an isolated meter fault.

As this carried on for over two years the amount to be credited had grown to over R55 000 with interest. Joburg Water issued the necessary letter within three days, but it took the billing department a further four months to rectify the account.

If residents receive a massive water bill I hope that it is corrected swiftly, but if not then I hope that the above story can help direct them. The first port of call is always to log your issue via email, the call-centre, or at a walk-in centre, and get a reference number. Remember that the City is responsible for incorrect bills and faulty meters, and you should not accept otherwise.

Renaming of William Nicol an illegal distraction for the ANC’s failings

The ANC is one again on a pointless push to rename William Nicole Drive after Winnie Mandela. In October of last year I pointed out that the process was entirely irregular, as it did not follow the City’s own policy on renaming, and even illegal, since the City has no jurisdiction over the road. At the time the ANC was trying to distract us from the hundreds of millions in corruption on Covid-expenditure.

Now with the local government elections on the horizon, they’ve again resurrected this ridiculous plan to cover up their numerous failings, and in doing so have managed to go against every requirement of the City’s policy on renaming. This includes requiring substantial motivations for renaming, avoiding cost to businesses and other stakeholders, no duplication of names, comprehensive public engagement, and having the legal ability to do so in the first place. The plan fails on all of these points.

The DA is firmly opposed to this waste of public money during an economic crisis. We encourage all residents to write to the City and oppose this. Emails can be sent to dominicam@joburg.org.za and willyl@joburg.org.za. Johannesburg residents deserve real ideas and projects from a well-run city which can address the current economic crisis, such as reduced rates and tariffs, and increased investment in our aging power grid and water network.

Business forums holding up service delivery to residents of Eldorado Park

For the past few years the residents of Eldorado Park have had to contend with among other issues, power outages, and unstable electricity supply without any real solution in sight. Now a key project which is aimed at stabilising electricity supply and providing work to local labourers and SMMEs is under threat from thugs who are holding up work to demand a slice of the contract.

The work on the Eldorado Park sub-station was stopped on 15 March by a so-called ‘business forum’ in the ward, despite previous issues with local labour being resolved at a meeting on 9 March. The MMC for EIS (City Power), Cllr Moerane, confirmed with me that he would not meet with them. It is important that we do not legitimise these thugs who do not represent the community.

Now the MMC has done an about-turn and agreed to meet with the same business forum who stopped the project again yesterday, this time supported by the Patriotic Alliance who it seems also want a piece of the pi. The PA were seen protesting outside the project site.

Now residents have to suffer while thugs fight to benefit themselves. This project must go ahead with the local labour and SMMEs who have already been identified through fair processes.

For speaking up against these people I’ve been told that I’m putting my life in danger.

MMC Moerane must say no to meeting with the PA and the business forum thugs, and the City should deploy JMPD to protect the project site so that no more work stoppages happen.

JRA wastes R15m on Find and Fix app with nothing to show for it

Residents may have realised that the Find and Fix app from the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) no longer works. More frustrating is the fact that they can no longer use this app to report potholes and broken road infrastructure.

The Find and Fix app was launched in 2014 at a cost of R15 million and yet the application does not belong to the City nor is it functional. The JRA CEO tried to justify the amount by claiming development costs, royalties, licence fees, and an AZURE platform fee. Enquiries have revealed that an equivalent app design in the private sector would have cost R750 000 and would have been owned by the JRA.

The bottom line is we have grossly overpaid for something that does not work, does not belong to us, and is desperately needed by residents – assuming that it is backed up by solid action from JRA when a pothole is reported.

The DA will continue to fight for the residents of Johannesburg to receive value for their money from a well-run City that puts their needs first.