GOOD press statement by Sarah Mabotsa,
GOOD: City of Tshwane Councillor
20 April 2022
A Moody’s downgrade. Being placed under administration. Billions lost to irregular expenditure. Starving residents living in filth without basic services. A mayor chronically short of charisma and ideas.
That is the true state of the Capital City, regardless of what Mayor Randall Williams says in his official state of Tshwane address tomorrow.
Tshwane is home to some 1.2 million indigent households. There are measures to combat household poverty, such as National Government’s monthly R430 indigent household grant. But Mayor Williams’ administration supplies only 3000 of these a month.
1 in 20 homes doesn’t have access to running water or electricity. 1 in 5 can’t access working toilets.
These numbers are a disgrace, and a stain on Tshwane’s leadership, both ANC and DA-led, past and present.
Mayor Williams has had a lacklustre inning since assuming office after the City was placed under administration. He seeks to offend no one and gets nothing done, which is likely attributable to the tenuous coalition agreement that keeps him in office.
We are already seeing the consequences of a coalition formed not out of principle or integrity but purely to attain power.
Most notably, the allegations of sexual misconduct and diva behaviour of the Council Speaker who hails from COPE. We expect the Executive Mayor to make clear his position on sexual misconduct in his address tomorrow, and in so doing disavow the behaviour of which the Speaker is accused.
The Mayor must commit himself to the people he was elected to serve and not kowtow to his coalition partners in blind service of holding on to power for power’s sake.
We have seen DA-led administrations retain public representatives who have had rumours of sexual misconduct swirling around them for years. Most notably the disgraced former MEC for Community Safety in the Western Cape Provincial Government.
It’s time for Mayor Williams to chart a bold, achievable and coherent road map for the Capital’s future. Forward-thinking ideas and sensible leadership must dominate his address.
In the last 5 years, the City of Tshwane lost an accumulative R8.6 billion to irregular and unauthorized expenditure.
We want a plan of action on recouping what we can of ratepayers’ hard-earned revenues lost to waste and corruption. What financial controls have the Mayor put in place to stop residents from footing future bill for poor governance and looting?
Mayor Williams has a duty to satisfy the residents of Tshwane that it will not continue to make a profit off water and electricity at their expense. The people of Tshwane are already overstretched and cannot afford to make ends meet. It is unconscionable for any city to force its residents to choose between feeding their families and keeping the lights on.
Mayor Williams must tell us what he’s doing to ensure more indigent household grants go to families in need. The city is dutybound to provide a safety net for its most vulnerable citizens.
We eagerly await Mayor Williams’s rollout of a mass essential amenities program. We hope to see it fully funded when the Budget and IDP are tabled after the public participation phase has been concluded.
Tshwane has plans to expand social housing, but the plans are as lacklustre as its Mayor. Countless buildings in the inner city lie derelict. Several properties belonging to the metro stand empty without plans for use. Public land continues to gather dust. The Mayor must repurpose buildings within his purview to give effect to the homelessness policy adopted in the first year of DA-led governance back in 2017.
Mayor Williams must also focus on legacy projects. The climate is changing – rapidly. Cities account for 70% of global air pollution, but 2% of the earth’s surface. This year’s address must discuss green energy solutions that reduce the use of non-renewables, so future residents are left with clean, future-proofed forms of energy.
Mayor Williams is at the top of the totem pole in Tshwane’s governing coalition. He knows his way around the city and must leverage that knowledge to deliver results.
The DA loves to provide a scorecard in places where it is the opposition. DA mayors will not be spared the same scrutiny this time next year when we assess Mayor Williams’ progress.
Media enquiries:
Sarah Mabotsa, GOOD: City of Tshwane Councillor
Cell: 064 684 8640
Email: smabotsamuthivhi@gmail.com
Samkelo Mgobozi, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0792315977 (WhatsApp)/0829684021 (calls)
Email: samm@forgood.org.za