Programme director, provincial leadership, my fellow DA leaders, councillor candidates, activists, members of the media and most importantly, the residents of Ekurhuleni.
There is a disease in Ekurhuleni, and it has been allowed to spread for far too long.
Note to Editors: The following speech was delivered by Khathu Rasilingwane, DA Ekurhuleni Mayoral Candidate at the kick-off of the You Can Count On Khathu Tour in Ekurhuleni, where we revealed that Ekurhuleni has conducted 0 lifestyle audits.
Pictures here, here, here and here; English soundbite
That disease is corruption.
For years, we have watched scandal after scandal unfold in this City.
We have watched allegations pile up, investigations drag on and millions of rands disappear while residents are told there is not enough money to fix roads, maintain infrastructure or deliver the basic services they pay for.
We have reached the point where another plaster is not going to fix the problem.
Ekurhuleni needs surgery, and we need a government with the courage to make the incision and cut the corruption out.
Over the past few months, we have seen just how deep the problem runs. We have seen the R1,8 billion chemical toilet tender. We have seen serious allegations surrounding the City’s billing system.
And we have seen irregular expenditure, questionable procurement and allegations of criminal syndicates and political interference within the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department.
These are not isolated incidents.
Taken together, they paint a picture of a municipality in which the systems that are supposed to protect public money have simply not been good enough.
And nowhere is that more obvious than in the case of suspended EMPD Deputy Chief Julius Mkhwanazi.
Mr Mkhwanazi faces multiple criminal matters and serious allegations. He is entitled to the presumption of innocence, and it is for the courts to determine whether he is guilty of any crime.
But there is another question the City itself must answer.
How did someone facing allegations of this seriousness remain in such a senior position for so long, and what did the City do to make sure that everything was above board?
Mr Mkhwanazi is now suspended, but the people of Ekurhuleni have been made to pay over R1,2 million in salary while he’s sat at home, or in court, or in a holding cell since November last year.
That is R1,2 million of public money being paid to an official who is not at work.
Cases like this should set alarm bells ringing across the municipality.
They should trigger scrutiny. They should trigger questions. And they should make the City use every tool at its disposal to uncover possible corruption.
And one of those tools is lifestyle audits.
The principle behind a lifestyle audit is straightforward. When somebody entrusted with public money appears to be living far beyond what their legitimate income can reasonably support, government should ask questions.
Where did the money come from? Can the difference between what somebody earns and the lifestyle they appear to be living be explained?
A lifestyle audit does not presume that somebody is guilty. It does not replace a criminal investigation, and it does not replace the courts.
What it does is identify warning signs and discrepancies that need a closer look.
In a City rocked by allegation after allegation of corruption, you would expect lifestyle audits to be part of the fight against it.
But here is what the people of Ekurhuleni need to know today.
The City of Ekurhuleni has not conducted a single lifestyle audit.
Not one.
After all the scandals, all the allegations and all the questions about what has happened to public money in this City, not one lifestyle audit has been conducted.
That will change under a DA government.
Within our first six months in office, we will conduct hundreds of lifestyle audits, beginning with senior officials and those occupying positions where the risk of corruption is greatest.
And lifestyle audits will not stand alone.
Last week, outside the Ekurhuleni Council Chambers, I announced that within the first 100 days of a DA government we will establish a Whistleblower Protection Unit.
People who expose corruption should not have to fear for their lives or livelihoods.
They must know that when they come forward, they will be protected and what they tell us will be acted upon.
We will protect whistleblowers. We will follow the money. We will investigate warning signs instead of ignoring them.
And where we find evidence of criminal activity, we will hand it over to the police for investigation.
Because corruption is not something that happens somewhere behind the closed doors of the Council Chambers.
Its consequences are visible in communities across Ekurhuleni every single day.
You see it in the pothole that has not been repaired. You see it in the streetlight that has been broken for months. You see it in the park that has become unusable, the swimming pool that remains closed, and the infrastructure that is allowed to fall apart.
Every rand that is stolen, wasted or abused is a rand that cannot be spent serving the people of this City.
And from next week, I am going to take that message directly into communities across Ekurhuleni.
Today, we officially launch the You Can Count on Khathu tour.
Over the coming weeks, I will travel across this City and campaign alongside the DA candidates who are standing here today.
We will go into communities, knock on doors, speak to residents and see what people experience every day.
But this tour is not about travelling around Ekurhuleni pointing at everything that is broken.
It is about telling people what we are going to do about it.
That is why I have made five pledges to the people of Ekurhuleni.
I have pledged to restore stable finances, because a City that cannot manage its money cannot deliver services.
I have pledged to grow the economy and create jobs by building a municipality that works with businesses and entrepreneurs instead of standing in their way.
I have pledged to build a corruption-free City, where public money is protected and those who abuse it are held accountable.
I have pledged to get our roads and infrastructure working, because people should not have to beg their municipality to perform the basic functions they already pay for.
And I have pledged to build safer communities, with functioning streetlights, safer public spaces and municipal law enforcement that serves the people.
Those five pledges are at the heart of our campaign to Get Ekurhuleni Working for All.
But no mayor can do that alone.
That is why today is about the DA ward and proportional representation candidates taking this campaign into communities across Ekurhuleni.
Being a councillor is not about a title or a seat in the Council Chamber. It is about being there when your community needs you.
When somebody phones about a leaking pipe, answer the phone. When residents show you a pothole, go and see it, and use the necessary mechanisms to ensure it is attended to.
When a park is unusable or a municipal facility has been closed, find out why. And when people ask what happened to their money, demand the answers.
A DA councillor does not work for the Mayor or for a political elite.
A DA councillor works for the people who elected them.
So, to every candidate here today: Be present in your communities. Listen to people.
Fight for them. Communicate with them. And never forget who sent you to the Council Chamber in the first place.
That is the team we are launching today. A team you can count on.
On 4 November, this City has a choice.
We can accept another five years of corruption, failing services and excuses, or we can choose a government that respects public money, gets the basics right and puts residents first.
We can choose a City where businesses can grow and people can find opportunities for work.
A City where roads are maintained, streetlights work and communities are safer. Where corruption is confronted instead of tolerated, and government remembers who it works for.
That is the Ekurhuleni we are fighting for, and today we launch the team that will take that fight into every ward and every community across this City.
Our candidates are ready. Our activists are ready. I am ready.
And together, we are ready to Get Ekurhuleni Working for All.
You can count on this team.
And you can count on the DA.
Thank you.