Debate on the dissolution of Johannesburg Council to take place soon

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg has received official confirmation that our motion to dissolve the Johannesburg Council has been successfully cleared by the programming committee and is set to be tabled by the end of November. This pivotal development marks a critical juncture for the political landscape of the city.

Johannesburg has regrettably become synonymous with cadre deployment, fruitless and wasteful expenditure, and a systematic avoidance of accountability. Despite numerous attempts to address these failures within the council, the coalition has hidden behind superficial displays of activity for the cameras. The result is a city in crisis, with service delivery in a downward spiral, unpaid contractors, and sewage spills plaguing our streets. The current government’s negligence demonstrates a lack of genuine concern for the residents of Johannesburg.

As voices from civil society join our call for the dissolution of the council, the residents of Johannesburg stand at the precipice of a crucial decision. This DA-motion will allow the Speaker and all political parties to reveal their true commitment to service delivery and the well-being of our city’s residents.

We urge all political parties to rise above self-interest and join the DA’s call for the restoration of power to the residents. Together, with the people of Johannesburg, we can rescue our city and restore it to its former glory as the City of Gold.

The recent High Court judgment declaring Floyd Brink’s appointment as Johannesburg’s City Manager unconstitutional, unlawful, and invalid is a testament to the DA’s unwavering commitment to constitutionalism and the rule of law.

Our victory in this matter reinforces our longstanding position that Brink’s deployment was unlawful. The judgment underscores the blatant flouting of processes by the Mayor and the Speaker of the council, revealing the depth of corruption that has permeated Johannesburg’s governance.

It is increasingly evident that stability in Johannesburg can only be achieved through the dissolution of the Council. The DA remains resolute in its mission to give the voters of Johannesburg the opportunity to choose a path of responsible and accountable governance for the future of our beloved city.

Under Premier Makhura’s leadership, unemployment and poverty has increased drastically

Ndza Khensa,

Honourable members, fellow South Africans, and the people of Gauteng

We have a Gauteng Premier that is full of empty promises, more plans and that has established several war rooms and tasks teams yet very little to show for how his government has improved the quality of lives of the people of Gauteng. 

On Monday, Premier David Makhura delivered the 8th edition of his theoretical plans full of empty promises.

Premier, I sat, watched, and listened to you deliver your 8th State of the Province Address. What I saw on Monday is an incapable and incompetent Premier who has no political will to lead and has lost leadership control for his executive members.

Perhaps what you delivered on Monday was your farewell speech, your last State of the Province Address as you prepare to leave office. 

What exactly has Premier Makhura done for the people of Gauteng since 2014, and what legacy will he leave behind?

Mr Premier, your legacy is the killing of mentally ill patients at Life Esidimeni; the stealing of public funds meant to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and the urbanisation of poverty.

Mr Premier, you have done very little for the people of this province. You sat and folded your hands when your friends and comrades were looting the PPE funds and then acted surprised. You did the same thing when your government killed Life Esidimeni patients, you pretended that you were not aware of what was happening within the Gauteng Department of Health.

Your biggest failure Mr Premier has been the management of the economy since you came into office in 2014. When you came into office, the unemployment rate in Gauteng was 24,6 percent and currently is sitting at 37 percent  by the time you leave this office, it would be approaching 50 percent.

There were 4,8 million employed people in the province in 2014, and now there are 4,4 million employed people. Under the leadership of Premier Makhura, more than 400 000 people have lost their jobs. The number of unemployed has increased by more than 1 million in the years that you have been in charge.

This is a shame, and no wonder even your comrades cannot wait to see you leave. You have failed the people of Gauteng, particularly the young people because under your leadership we have seen poverty and unemployment skyrocket in Gauteng.

Honourable members, the premier has been talking about the Gauteng Township Economic Bill as the panacea or the pill that will cure his failures over the last 8 years. As I listened to him on Monday, I remembered what the former President Kgalema Motlanthe once said in 2007:

This rot is across the board. It’s not confined to any level or any area of the country. Almost every project is conceived because it offers opportunities for certain people to make money. A great deal of the ANC’s problems are occasioned by this.”

Let the truth be told the Gauteng Township Economic Bill is not about assisting small businesses and entrepreneurs in Gauteng but primarily about the township development fund. The fund will only enable the connected elites to steal from the government coffers. This is the reason why the fund is designed to have its own board, employees, and offices.

If you were serious about the interests of the small business owners and entrepreneurs, you would have used the existing provincial development finance institutions without the need to create another government entity.

Mr Premier, you have indicated that you will be establishing a war room to unlock the potential in the province to reduce the number of unemployed people. Do you need to be reminded of the last time we had a war room in this province when people looted PPE funds right under your watch? The people of Gauteng do not need war rooms but deserve a government that will improve their living conditions without stealing their money. Your government has failed on both these scores.

As you prepare to leave the office, I wish you all the best, but the people of Gauteng will not miss you because under your government it has been eight wasted years. The people of our province are now poorer than when you took office.

Ndza Khensa,

#MakhuraNotFitToGovern: ANC-led government’s vote of confidence in Premier Makhura shows their commitment to cadre deployment

It is no surprise that the ANC in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature today voted to keep Premier David Makhura in office. Today’s motion of no confidence brought by the DA comes after it became quite clear that Premier Makhura is not fit to govern.

The outcome of today’s vote does not change our view. Premier Makhura remains unfit to govern.

Under his watch:

  • Up to R125 million wasted on corrupt tenders for Personal Protect Equipment.
  • R431 million was spent on decontaminating schools between June and August last year.
  • AngloGold Ashanti hospital on the far West Rand received R500 million worth of funding in order to equip it with extra beds and facilities to assist Covid-19 patients. These wards are still incomplete and remain under construction.
  • Years after the horrible tragedy at Life Esidimeni, 81 claimants had still not been paid their compensation by November 2020.
  • Over 18 months since the Bank of Lisbon Fire, the Premier has still failed to release the investigation report.
  • There has been a continuous systemic collapse of municipalities like Emfuleni and Merafong.
  • An illegal dissolution of the Tshwane Municipal Council last year.

It is clear that the ANC-led government in Gauteng remains committed to cadre deployment and will do anything in their power to ensure that Premier Makhura remains in office, despite his government failing to exercise proper fiscal control and governance.

The DA will not waiver in its duty as the Official Opposition in the province to hold Premier Makhura and his executive to account.

DA Debates Women’s Month: Honouring Women Is A Celebration Of The Future Of SA

Speech by: Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL

“Honouring women is a celebration of the future of SA”

  • Today, I honour women who on a pension grant will raise a community – these are the real heroes.
  • In many occasions in this house, I have highlighted the challenge of the girl child – poverty.
  • Being a professional blessee is even beginning to be an aspirational career for young women – rake in a rich blesser and the woman is set: the chance to wear designer clothes and be set up in a Sandton apartment.
  • I am saddened, when in Marikana, a brother who had lost his job on the mines asked his sister to prostitute herself because this was the only way they knew how to raise money so that they could eat and return home to the Eastern Cape.
  • Women have choices because the constitution dictates so, however in practice these rights are violated on a daily basis. Women endure violence and are violated

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

Media Enquiries:

Refiloe Nt’sekhe MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Social Development

060 558 8297

[Image source]

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

[IMAGE SOURCE]

Masina: Debate live and not hide behind Luthuli House

 

I personally challenge ANC Mayoral Candidate for Ekurhuleni, Mzwandile Masina, to a live television interview – where he can prove his mettle first hand, instead of being drip-fed answers by Luthuli House.

On Sunday night, Masina was supposed to appear live on Power FM to debate me as the ANC’s Mayoral Candidate in Ekurhuleni. Instead, he cancelled and took the interview over the phone.

Whilst I was prepared for a live debate – to furnish listeners with what the future of Ekurhuleni will look like under the DA, Masina had to be scripted over the phone by Luthui House staff, in a poor attempt to refute me.

As is typical of Masina’s character, when he could not challenge the facts presented to him, he unleashed a personal tirade against me.

Masina is known for using profanities against fellow Members of Parliament. He has been quoted as referring to former Deputy Health Minister, Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, as a “Hoe”.

It is quite possible that the ANC are afraid to allow Masina to speak for himself, because they know his short temper and bad mouth will cost them votes.

If the ANC are confident in Masina as a candidate, they will allow him to debate me live, if not – it further reiterates that he is a Zuma deployee with little concern for the residents of Ekurhuleni.

 

Ghaleb Cachalia

DA Mayoral Candidate for Ekurhuleni

[IMAGE SOURCE]

Pikitup: Joburg Concedes To Urgent DA Debate

Pikitup Crisis

I am pleased that Joburg Speaker Cllr Constance Bontle Bapela has conceded to debate the Pikitup crisis through an urgent debate called by the DA, in Council tomorrow.

Speaker Bapela has now acknowledged the urgency of this Pikitup crisis, after weeks of inaction from the City of Johannesburg and Mayor Parks Tau.

The real test though will be on whether the ANC in the Council will support a DA motion in the debate mandating Mayor Parks Tau to end the strike immediately.

It is high time we break the Pikitup deadlock. Our city cannot be held ransom by union pressure any longer.

Striking Workers

Our poorest communities are suffering horrendous health risks as rubbish mounts on streets and corners, with no access to alternative collection.

Across all areas of Joburg, our communities cannot continue to suffer the effects of Pikitup, including thuggery and violence of striking workers, until Mayor Tau decides to act.

The time to act is now, and we are hopeful that tomorrow’s debate will resolve to end the strike urgently.

 

Media enquiries:

Cllr Vasco da Gama

DA Johannesburg Caucus Leader

082 957 8581

DA Debates 2014/15 Finance Annual Report

Speech by: Adriana Randall MPL

“Finance department drastically lacking critical skills”

  • One of the areas of underperformance for the period under review was the funded vacant posts, with Administration underspending the appropriated budget by R32m or 14%.
  • The transformation of the GDF into an ICT department for the Gauteng Province requires a continuous and an uncompromising acquisition of the required skills. Development and training of employees MUST BE considered one of the highest priorities within the department.
  • The department needs to perform a resource Gap analysis, establish a prioritised list of initiatives, provide a risk assessment of all high-level initiatives, provide an actionable 3-year ICT plan.

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

Speech by: Mike Moriarty MPL

“ICT must be capitalised on to enhance Gauteng’s financial standing”

  • The problem of vacant posts in the department, particularly in ICT shared services, still persists, as it has for a while, and this problem appears to be continuing into the current financial year. Previously, we were told that the DPSA had to approve a new staff structure, but more than a year later, the problem persists.
  • It concerns me greatly that R499 320 was spent on a single consultant for a single day’s work to provide consulting and advisory services on the E-government strategy. This must be the most expensive daily rate a consultant has charged in the history of the GPG – almost half a million rand.
  • As we go forward, the investment into the Gauteng Broadband Network should yield more government to citizen services.

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

Media enquiries:

Adriana Randall MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC on Finance

060 556 4342

 

Mike Moriarty MPL

DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Finance

082 492 4410

[Image source]

DA Debates Illegal Land Occupation And Evictions

Note to editors: The following speeches were delivered in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature today by the DA’s Fred Nel MPL, Lebo More MPL, Michele Clarke MPL, and Mervyn Cirota MPL, during debates on the motion of the Gauteng Provincial Governments application of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from Unlawful Occupation of Land Act.

 

Speech by
Fred Nel MPL

“The Constitution must guide land access”

 

  • The property ownership issue in South Africa is a complex one. There is a major need to empower those South Africans who were disadvantaged under apartheid by being prevented from owning property.
  • Scores of poor and homeless South Africans seeking a better life in Gauteng are exploited by unscrupulous criminals who illegally sell and rent property to them.
  • There are victims on both sides of the property divide who need to be cared for. But in order to do so government, all three spheres of it, needs to play a constructive role and stop dragging its feet in dealing with property ownership issues.

 

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

 

Speech by

Lebo More MPL

“Housing needs are human needs”

 

  • It is the duty of government to provide fair access for all South Africans to realise the freedom which secure housing provides.
  • Evictions, if there is no alternative, must take place with the utmost respect for people and the rule of law.
  • I call on the municipalities and provincial government in Gauteng to respect and treat people with the fairness and dignity that they deserve

 

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

 

Speech by

Michele Clarke MPL

“Evictions: A symptom of failed policy”

 

  • Illegal occupation and evictions reflect the deep rooted societal inequalities that remain prevalent 21 years in to our hard won democracy.
  • A fundamental failing of this administration has been its inability to provide not just housing, but housing that seeks to redress the shortcomings of Apartheid spatial planning – if anything, it has perpetuated its legacy.
  • This administration, as part of a legislative institution must not see itself beyond the law. It must endeavour to act in accordance with the law, so as to afford people the rights and dignity befitting of them as citizens of this province.

 

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

 

Speech by

Mervyn Cirota MPL

“Residents treated inhumanely”

 

  • Although the DA recognises and supports the inalienable right of property owners to security of land tenure and rejects illegal squatting and land invasions the DA believes that more humane measures can be applied when evicting residents and agrees that special steps can and must be taken to secure accommodation for those who are destitute.
  • There have been numerous reports of land invaders being forcibly removed off state and private land in circumstances where if alternative accommodation had been supplied timeously, the need for inhumane intervention could have been prevented.

 

The full speech can be obtained here.

 

Media enquiries:

 

Fred Nel MPL

083 263 2427

 

Lebo More MPL

073 143 7508

 

Michele Clarke MPL

060 558 8309

 

Mervyn Cirota MPL

060 558 8312

[Image source]