We need a clean, functioning Jozi that cares about its residents
They may not break bones but words can do untold and sometimes irreparable damage. Those among us who are long in the tooth will know of a fellow plucked from obscurity to the -coveted position of premier during the Thabo Mbeki years.
Ndaweni Mahlangu was appointed by Mbeki as premier of Mpumalanga in 1999. People were still asking Ndaweni who, when he sprang into national prominence and infamy when he declared it was acceptable for politicians to lie.
National government, recognising the kind of problem they had on their hands were he to be left to his own devices, devised a plan. A veteran broadcast and print journalist was roped in as a trusted hand in communication to help Mahlangu to first engage the brain before opening the mouth.
As a result communication from the premier was vastly improved.
Today, we have in politics someone who is giving anyone else dreaming of out-doing Mahlangu a run for their money. Dada Morero had hardly warmed the chair in the executive mayor of Johannesburg’s office when he put his foot in it.
He had a ‘brilliant idea’ to recruit and hire foreign nationals to the Johannesburg metro police. The statement might have come from a good place but it made for very bad PR, given the high employment in the very heart of Africa’s biggest economy.
Morero kind of hibernated for a while after that, despite the many problems obvious to the eye that Joburg is saddled with. Chief among those is deteriorating infrastructure, potholes everywhere and malfunctioning traffic lights. Power cuts notwithstanding, we suspect it would be a record of sorts were a motorist to drive through upwards of five functioning robots on any main road in the city.
Then in his wisdom, though he later withdrew and blamed a wrong choice of words, Morero said City of Joburg would prioritise infrastructure along routes to be used for the G20 Summit.
It might well have been a Freudian slip, but it seemed to explain why the city is in such a bad state; the city fathers don’t care much for the ratepayers and residents. The declared intent is to make Johannesburg a “world-class African city”, but that now rings hollow. There is a disjuncture between dreams and the reality on the ground. Roads are hardly maintained, grass seldom cut, not to mention the wanton littering that has turned the inner city into one giant rubbish bin, and sewage runs in the streets. To top it all, vandals are harvesting traffic lights almost at the blink of an eye.
This is by no way being nostalgic about apartheid Joburg. The city was well run the years immediately after the 1994 liberation. One mayor who comes to mind and made a telling difference is Amos Masondo, an unassuming yet great leader who served with distinction.
Among his administration’s achievements was the tarring of virtually all the streets of Soweto and other townships.
In veterans such as Masondo, Morero has wells of wisdom he should not hesitate to drink from. We go farther when we stand on the shoulders of giants.
We need a healthy, clean and functioning Joburg for everyday life, not one that cleans up its act for visitors.
