The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have yesterday issued a statement wherein they accuse the City and Mayor of being captured by a criminal syndicate led by Gayton Mackenzie.
These farcical allegations are nothing else but a retort by those that previously looted and mismanaged the City and its Entities under the previous administration.
The Government of Local Unity (GLU) is made up of political parties democratically elected into Council by the residents and electorate of Johannesburg.
These parties represent the will and aspirations of the people of Johannesburg and their constituencies. It is not criminal syndicates but duly elected representatives of the people that govern Johannesburg.
The Herman Mashaba era of populist mismanagement and disregard of processes in the City of Johannesburg is being uprooted and has grave consequences for those involved including massive financial losses for those that swindled the City for political patronage and personal benefit.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has by its own admission, through its Federal Chairperson, admitted to the maladministration and bad governance of their Mashaba/EFF coalition in the City of Johannesburg.
Over the last three years, irregular, unauthorized, wasteful and fruitless expenditure ballooned to over R 3 billion for 2018/19 according to the Auditor-General with very few consequences for those responsible.
Unlike the previous administration, as the GLU we are committed to consequence management. Where allegations of malfeasance arise, we will investigate thoroughly and ensure accountability.
The Boards of Municipal Owned Entities have in some instances acted to suspend persons where allegations of wrongdoing have emerged. This is done within the applicable policies and laws that govern consequence management in the workplace.
Where people allege they have been issued with illegal instructions, they must immediately lay charges against those whom they accuse.
We will not be distracted by beneficiaries of corruption and fraud who have compromised the City’s ability to service the poor and its ratepayers. The EFF’s badly written and waffle filled statement is nothing else but an attempt at protecting those they believe serve best their interests as opposed to those of 5 million residents of the City.
It is about illicit profiteering as opposed to accountability.
It is a distraction to the agenda of clean governance adopted by the City and a reflection of the frustration of those that previously manipulated Municipal Owned Entity Boards to serve their party-political interests as opposed to servicing the essential needs of the people of Johannesburg.
Ours is to fight the spread of the Corona Virus and contain the pandemic. We will not be deterred by those who seek to derail the progress we are making in service of our people. The residents of this great city are our priority.
