Johannesburg - The stench of sewage engulfs the impoverished Banakekeleni informal settlement that is situated under powerlines in Alexandra.
Young, unemployed men sit outside their shacks drinking beer, while the women do the laundry and children play on their own around exposed electric wires.
This is where businessman Herman Mashaba, the DA’s Joburg mayoral candidate, gave residents an ultimatum on Monday to vote for him to change their plight during the municipal elections on August 3, or continue living in filth.
Mashaba was accompanied by some of his colleagues, among them Joburg caucus leader Vasco da Gama and the party’s regional chairman Khume Ramulifho. Anthony Still, the DA spokesman on Pikitup, also attended.
This was part of the DA’s campaign aimed at cleaning Joburg and restoring the dignity of people who live in squalor and unsanitary conditions.
The DA recently submitted a dossier to the SA Human Rights Commission detailing the unbearable socio-economic conditions people in townships were forced to live in. The SAHRC has confirmed that it is investigating the allegations.
Mashaba said Pikitup, the city’s waste management entity, had failed to fulfil its obligations.
He said it was an entity dominated by ANC cadres and added that he intended to break up its monopoly.
Mashaba said he would divide Pikitup, which he claimed had spent more than R900 million in unauthorised expenditure, into seven entities that would service Joburg’s seven regions. None of the employees would lose their jobs; they would be absorbed by service providers and their grievances would be attended to.
“As mayor, my plan is to prioritise small business in procurement, especially from townships. From day one there will be a transparent and open tender system. No more nepotism. No more backhands. No more slacking,” Mashaba said.
“I will break up Pikitup into smaller and decentralised service providers across Johannesburg’s different regions. This, in turn, will open up unprecedented entrepreneurial opportunities and create jobs in the fastest growth industry in the 21st century: green technologies.”
The beauty of breaking up Pikitup, he said, was that if there was another strike, only one region would be affected and the other regions could help pick up the slack.
“We are looking forward to the opportunity of having a clean city,” added Mashaba.
@luyolomkentane
The Star