‘If I don’t deliver, please vote me out’
”You are godsend!” screamed a female DA supporter as Joburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba was articulating his promises.
|||”You are godsend!” screamed a female DA supporter as Joburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba was articulating his promises to better the lives of Joburg citizens by creating jobs and giving support to small businesses.
“If I don’t deliver on these promises after I have been elected, please vote me out,” Mashaba made the impassioned plea during his campaign launch at the impoverished Alexandra township near Sandton on Saturday.
The City of Gold had progressed towards redress after the dawn of democracy in 1994, Mashaba told those who had gathered inside the Central Johannesburg College hall, saying there was improved delivery of housing and other essential services, but that progress had stalled.
Service delivery was no longer meeting people’s needs, the self-made multimillionaire said, adding that the unemployment rate at 24.5 percent was “unacceptably high”.
He lashed out at those who used their close proximity to government to get rich, “while everyone else is getting poorer”.
“The current of corruption and bad governance is pulling us backwards”.
Mashaba said the decision to throw his hat into the ring in his quest to become the first citizen of Joburg had been “deeply personal” for him.
“I’ve entered the race of my life because I love this city and because I’ve seen how opportunity changes lives. It is deeply personal. I know that opportunity is the difference between hope and fear, life and death,” he said, endearing himself to the supporters by invoking his difficult upbringing.
“My story, like many of your stories, challenges those who seek to use race to divide us. Like millions of black South Africans, I grew up in poverty during apartheid. I grew up in GaRamotse in Hammanskraal and I was raised by my sisters while our mother worked long hours as a domestic worker,” said Mashaba.
The controversial entrepreneur, who made his millions in his 20s when he founded hair products company Black Like Me in the 1980s, said red tape that “strangles” entrepreneurs would be cut out during his first 100 days in office.
The controversial tender system would also be opened up “entirely” for everyone to see how government tenders were awarded, said Mashaba, whose campaign had been endorsed by former DA leader and Western Cape Premier Helen Zille.
His other promises to turn around the City of Joburg include helping small businesses, auditing city-owned land and buildings to “set free the people’s assets”, and identify affordable commercial spaces for small businesses, artisans and shops. These would be made available at the most affordable annual rental possible, he said.
“We’ll connect people to training opportunities and internships. We’ll help them to find jobs in these new businesses. I know how business works, with a 30-year track record of creating thousands of jobs. Job creation is in my public service DNA,” he said.
Speaking earlier at the event, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said Mashaba possessed great integrity, intellect and the potential to lead “one of Africa’s greatest cities”.
“I believe he’s the best man for the job. I actually think he’s Black Like Me,” he quipped.
When the DA takes over Joburg, Maimane said they would do away with cadre deployment. “Cadre deployment also means Gupta deployment, because only Guptas deploy people. We are not reserving jobs for cronies,” said Maimane, referring to the alleged influence the controversial Gupta family has over government decisions via their close proximity to Zuma. The family has denied such allegations.
Mashaba said his promises to prospective voters were not pipe dreams, “but tried and tested promises from where the DA governs already” in Western Cape.
Maimane said the City of Cape Town had been getting awards for good governance and that they wanted Joburg to give it competition. He characterised Cape Town as a soccer club playing in the Premier Soccer League, while Joburg played in the national first division, previously called Mvelaphanda.
He added that Mashaba would bring back shine to the City of Gold and that he would be a mayor for the people, not for his party, which is also targeting the metros of Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape, where the ANC has been losing support.
In the 2011 municipal elections, the ruling party retained control of the metro by 51.9 percent of the votes, and their support dipped to below 50 percent during the 2014 national elections.
Sunday Independent