Note to editors: Please find the speech delivered in the Johannesburg Council Chamber today, by Cllr. Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku below
Madam Speaker, Executive Mayor, Fellow Councillors and Residents of Johannesburg
I greet You all.
The Executive Mayor had once again shown the residents of Johannesburg how totally out of touch he is with what is happening in his City.
The Mayor is asking for residents to be resilient as he fails to implement even the basic of services, relying on Provincial Government for consultation for fear of being removed
Madam Speaker, The Mayor is talking about inclusiveness, yet he is completely ignoring rate payers from all areas across the City who contributes to capex projects for underdeveloped areas. These same rate payers gets nothing in return
Let me tell you Madam Speaker and Mr Mayor, collapse of service delivery in the City of Johannesburg is the City’s failure to implement what the residents pay them to do, it is caused by the politicising of service delivery & only work in ANC=PA+AL Jamaah Wards.
Madam Speaker, the Executive Mayor speaks about the Usindiso Building as if it has nothing to do with the City, yet this is another prime example of failure by the JPC to do repairs and maintenance on properties owned by the City and the Mayor is failing to hold officials to account.
It is quite unfortunate, that the Executive Mayor failed to tell the residents, when last an audit was done on the properties owned by the City and how much money is collected by JPC on behalf of the City. Where does the money go?
Public Safety
Madam Speaker, it is unfortunate that in this council, we bring reports that we know violate the constitution, yet it contributes to fruitless and wasteful expenditure and this council is happy to steamroll it through with numbers.
The Executive Mayor is lamenting the challenges of crime and safety, he wouldn’t take it seriously, he would rather politicise this very important issue because it is under his watch, that VIP protectors are deployed and only afterwards risk assessments are done and reports brought to council.
Madam Speaker, it is clear from his speech that the Executive Mayor has no plan on how to deal with zama zamas and it is a fact the City has no capacity to deal with illegal mining.
The Executive Mayor must tell the residents when he last engaged with the Minister of Police and the Minister of Mineral Resources to jointly find solutions for illegal mining in Johannesburg.
We don’t want to know about your sleeping pattern’s Mr Mayor, ons wil nie weet nie. Listen to the DA’s Cllr Michael Sun’s advice and set up a special task team to deal with gang violence in the City and action it.
The DA believes in a whole of Society approach and it is for this reason that we believe in not only engaging different spheres of government, but community structures to find sustainable solutions
Community Development
Madam Speaker, the Executive Mayor said nothing about Community Development, yet we have a library that remain closed in the City, projects that are incomplete and no word about it.
Parks and public open spaces remain danger zones for our children and women, because the grounds are occupied by drug users and opportunistic criminals. The Multiparty government had started with park rangers, now, we hardly see the park rangers and the Executive Mayor said nothing.
Madam Speaker, in the 2023 speech of the Executive Mayor, he promised the residents 5000 cameras across the City, yesterday’s speech mentioned nothing about it, where are those cameras?
Despite the pause on loadshedding as part of the ANC election campaigns, cable theft continues, yet the Executive Mayor said nothing about any infrastructure protection plan. Under the Multiparty government the Infrastructure protection Unit included all spheres of government yet the mayor is talking about only engaging them now, why throw out good plans simply because it was not started by your government?
Madam Speaker, the Executive Mayor clearly lives in a different City from all us, he said nothing about the billing crisis in the City, yet he blame shifts to the Multiparty Government that held office for only 14 months.
I agree with the Executive Mayor, we cannot be the first to complain about service delivery when we as councillors default, I agree with you, all of us must pay our bills to the municipality & the municipality has an obligation to ensure billing is correct & where there are disputes, these are resolved, without being used to intimidate residents and councillors. There must be transparency.
For benefit of transparency Madam Speaker, I wonder why the Mayor has not told the residents that government departments & political parties, including the ANC owe the city a combined amount of approx. R1.2 billion and big businesses who are doing business with the ANC are untouchable.
The City has done nothing to collect money from these government departments and businesses who are doing business with the ANC.
Madam Speaker, the Executive Mayor must explain why different rules apply to residents of the City, residential rate payers, who are just trying to make a living & yet they are being intimidated, victimised and subjected to possible tariff increases, that could add to the financial burden in the City.
The Billing crisis in the City has made it very difficult for property investors and developers to remain in the City and rather invest elsewhere leaving a lower rate base, adding a burden to the City.
Human Settlements
Madam Speaker, the Executive Mayor proudly announces that JOSHCO will soon have 10000 units, but no mention that JOSHCO is desperately trying to return about 2000 units to the City.
JOSHCO’S inability to collect rental income from tenants, the lack of Maintenance of the units as well as the failure to correctly administer these units now puts JOSHCO in a situation where they are too happy to remove these so-called assets from their balance sheets.
Projects on Hold
Madam Speaker, it is so unfortunate that as I said before, the Executive Mayor is completely out of touch, he fails to tell the residents that there are several projects on hold due to non-payment
The Klipfontein Wellness Centre, stopped due to non payment.
Buccleuch Upper Bridge – JRA have been given notice, no payment
Stormwater Project – Former Contractor terminated work with the City due to non-payment, now New Contractor has also put work on hold due to nonpayment
Debt Collectors have not been paid despite numerous commitments to get this resolved.
How long will residents wait for these facilities & how many more projects are at a standstill due to non payment.
In Conclusion Madam Speaker, the DA will not be silenced, we believe in good governance fairness and transparency, the DA stands ready to rescue South Africa on 29 May 2024.