Johannesburg – Gauteng MEC for Economic Development, Environment, Agriculture and Rural Development Lebogang Maile had spoken out against the decision by new Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba to scrap the Jozi@Work programmes.
Speaking during the state of the province (Sopa) debate at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, MEC Maile, who is an African National Congress (ANC) party member said Mashaba’s decision would adversely affect the poor and SMMEs in Johannesburg.
Mashaba, a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA) party, has cancelled projects initiated by the previous ANC mayor, Parks Tau, because he said they were "vanity projects" for patronage purposes.
However, Maile argued that Jozi@work programme was implemented to provide jobs to poor people through work packages linked to various projects in energy, waste, greening service, construction and maintenance and roads and transport.
“Jozi@work programme was a sustained effort to bring about real change in the life of ordinary residents. The move by the DA to scrap Jozi@work programme is a clear anti-poor agenda which seeks to condemn our people to a permanent state of poverty,” Maile said.
He said the DA had little or scant concern for the very serious economic challenges facing people across Johannesburg.
“The cancellation of the Jozi@Work programmes by the DA is a direct attack on the thousands of people who had found jobs through the introduction of the programmes,” Maile said.
Maile added: “As a result of the DA’s decision more than 8 000 workers and 112 cooperatives and small companies will be out of work."
The ANC runs the Gauteng government, but since last August when it lost out in local government elections two major metros – Tshwane and Johannesburg – in the province are being run by opposition parties led by the DA.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura announced during his State of the Province Address (Sopa) on Monday that Gauteng would champion a new programme called Gauteng@work to save jobs and promote community-based enterprises.
“Government should always stand with the poor. We cannot turn our backs on the people. As the provincial government, we have decided to intervene in order to save jobs, promote community based enterprises and economic inclusion by launching Gauteng@Work as announced by the Premier David Makhura,” Maile said.
He said the cancellation of the Local Bakeries Project by Mayor Mashaba was "the worst decision in the history of local economic development".
“This in essence is a precursor of what the DA’s anti-poor agenda in Johannesburg will be driving in the next coming years.” Maile said total of 12 bakeries had been established throughout the city mainly in township areas.
Eight of the 12 bakeries are fully operational and the other four were at an inception stage.
The bakeries employ 42 people.
“The closure of these bakeries means that thousands of poor households will no longer have access to healthier bread at a cost 50 percent less than the normal retail price. This will adversely affect the poor in Johannesburg,” Maile said.
Maile said Jozi-bread prototype bakeries would have created a new supply sub-sector recycling fruit waste to produce healthier flour, a model drawn from successful benchmarks in Latin America and the Philippines.
He said the model is working so well at test sites that private sector capitalisation would have been realised within the next six to 18 months.
“This is a clear indication of the DA’s agenda of protecting white monopoly capital and cartels that collude in setting the price of flour and bread to the detriment of emerging local bakeries,” Maile said.
“Mayor Mashaba is basically claiming that allowing a few high stakes players – who already hold all the chips – to bet big at the City's economic poker table will empower the many by default, and that a fairer poker table will benefit all citizens seeking opportunity. "But the many will never be able to buy into Mashaba's table without removing the barriers to participation and entry into the economy by those historically deprived."