Johannesburg - Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba on Friday likened his inexperienced administration to that of former president Nelson Mandela when he led the country into democracy 22 years ago.
Mashaba was speaking at the announcement of his new mayoral committee at the Joburg Theatre, where he and the 10 members of the committee were sworn in by Judge President Dunstan Mlambo.
The former businessman said the mayoral committee members (MMCs) he had selected were not his close friends and not chosen as any form of payback or cadre deployment. “These are people chosen carefully. The main, if not the sole, consideration was their ability to deliver and their willingness to serve the people of Joburg, especially the underprivileged,”he said.
He added the team comprised of doctors, a professor, community development activists and people who had a deep love for their city and a passion for development.
While the group was qualified, each with impressive academic résumés, Mashaba was asked whether they had the necessary experience to run a municipality. In response he replied: “In 1994, when Nelson Mandela led a democracy, he never had any experience.”
Mashaba reminded the MMCs that leadership was not about the trappings of power and about how others must serve you.
“It is not about self-importance. It is about how your ethical and moral leadership impacts the lives of the people of Joburg in a positive way,”he said.
The city’s first citizen said the people had chosen a diverse group of parties to lead them, adding the administration faced great challenges that no party can confront on its own. “It is time for all of us to roll up our sleeves and get working... It is time to put our political differences and ideologies aside and work together with a shared vision for the improvement of the lives of our city's residents.
Mashaba thanked outgoing city manager Trevor Fowler for the immense support he had shown him when he took office earlier this week. He asked that he and his administration be given a chance.
“I need to ask the people of Joburg for patience. The truth is that there are no short cuts. It is going to take time to correct years of mismanagement and decay in Joburg,”he said, adding his team had to help create an enabling environment for business to create jobs in the shortest time possible.
In Tshwane, new mayor Solly Msimanga also announced his MMCs, saying he would strictly hold them accountable for their performance during their first 100 days in office.
Speaking at the official naming of the 10 MMCs at the council chambers in Centurion, he said: “Remember, I made a promise to the people of Tshwane and therefore I cannot afford to fail on delivering those promises.”
Msimanga said his team was diverse and faced an enormous task of turning around the city, getting finances right, creating jobs, delivering services and cutting corruption.
Saturday Star