Note to Editors: Please find an English soundbite by Cllr Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku here
Today’s events where two national cabinet ministers were forced to swoop in on the affairs of the City of Johannesburg, should be an utter embarrassment to the Mayor and leadership of the City under the ActionSA-EFF-ANC coalition.
Today the Ministers of Water and Sanitation, and Electricity were forced to intervene in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ), due to the inept executive’s failures.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is vindicated in its warnings that the current ANC-ActionSA-EFF executive in Johannesburg have dug themselves into a hole from which they won’t be able to escape, alone. We are vindicated in laying a complaint with National Treasury and the Auditor General, we believe that these interventions would not have taken place without out continuous highlighting of the failures.
Over the past weeks it has become increasingly clear that the CoJ is no longer on the brink of collapse, but is in fact collapsing. The entities owned by the city, like Johannesburg Water and City Power, are unable to fulfil their mandates.
Last week, Eskom threatened to cut off Johannesburg’s electricity. This happens on the back of a water crisis created by Johannesburg Water. Neither electric lines, nor water pipes are managed effectively in the CoJ. That has been evident for quite some time.
People’s taps are dry, and their lights are off. The two single most important factors influencing whether or not people are able to live their lives is missing in Johannesburg.
City Power and the Minister of Electricity have found one another, and will on the 25th of November give a clear indication of how they will solve the Eskom debt crisis the city faces. However, the DA notes that the agreement between the Minister and Mayor is only commitment to agreeing on what the exact amount of debt is, and not a fixed and certain plan to repay the debt. This failure to agree a repayment plan is a critical concern – it seems the meeting has just kicked the can down the road.
Later today, at the minister of water’s press conference, she admitted how water infrastructure has been neglected in Johannesburg. This is something the DA has known and warned against for years on end – even calling for the dissolution of Johannesburg Water’s board.
Like City Power, Johannesburg Water is awash with political deployees and cadres. City Power and Johannesburg Water has been destroyed by an inept executive in the CoJ. There is no other way to put it.
In contrast, the only municipality in the whole of Gauteng whose account with Eskom is fully paid up, is the DA-governed Midvaal Municipality. This is not a boast – it is a statement of what is possible with good governance. When a government truly cares about its people, and works hard to ensure that obligations are met, there are no threats of shut-offs from Eskom.
Today was a sad day for the City of Johannesburg, and an embarrassment for the leadership of the EFF-ActionSA-ANC coalition.