Embattled Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero says he is the one who pleaded with President Cyril Ramaphosa to help fix a broken city. However, this was not an admission that he is incompetent.
Morero faced criticism this week after he told reporters his council would prioritise fixing “G20 routes” in preparation for the G20 summit to be hosted in the city in November.
Over Thursday and Friday, the president and members of the national executive engaged the leadership of Gauteng and the City of Johannesburg on the challenges and work being done to address them.
Ramaphosa expressed his dismay at the poor state of Johannesburg and proposed a rejuvenation project similar to that of eThekwini.
In an interview with the Sunday Times this week, Morero said the intervention came after he wrote a letter to the president requesting national government intervention.
Some parts of the CBD resemble a war zone and roads are not being maintained. Large numbers of buildings are rundown and the streets are littered with rubbish. Many residents have to endure persistent water interruptions and power outages.
Morero said that the ANC administration and the past DA leadership had failed the residents of Johannesburg. He said the presidential working group would help him turn about the situation.
“We are dealing with the challenges that were created by us and the DA. I do not want to enter the space of political bickering and a blame game. But all of us have a responsibility to save Johannesburg. If Johannesburg works and rises, then the entire country benefits as we contribute 16% to the national GDP. Therefore it is important that we thrive.”
Morero said they would present a plan to the Presidency team on Wednesday.
“The presidency has not adopted a top/down approach. We are presenting proposed interventions and they are going to indicate how they are going to help us. They might say this is what we think, this is what’s going to help you, we don’t think that one is critical, let’s reshape it in this fashion, etc. This relationship is going to be complementary in nature and comprise of working together — hence the province is going to form part of the process of rebuilding Johannesburg.”
The mayor conceded serious challenges lie ahead, but vowed that once the project kicks off, the executive will start seeing real change in the city
The mayor conceded serious challenges lie ahead, but vowed that once the project kicks off, the executive will start seeing real change in the city.
“The makeup will involve one person from the Presidency that we are yet to agree on, with experience in governance, the political landscape in Johannesburg and business, so that business can find its voice in the structure.
“The pair will co-chair the cohort, reinforced by workstreams that will either focus on public safety, like the SAPS, JMPD, home affairs and customs in one grouping, alongside a water infrastructure workstream which will likely include the director-general of water and sanitation, as well as Rand Water, Johannesburg Water, as well as electricity and road infrastructure workstreams. They will be channelled and put together to address the problem statement.”
Morero defended the recent underspending recorded, with the city risking the loss of a R1.2bn National Treasury grant in the 2023/24 financial year because of it.
He made the commitment that his executive will salvage what it can or ask the Treasury for a rollover into the next financial year, promising that no grants will be returned in the future.
“We will try to capacitate our internal administration to be able to spend on grants and spend them quickly so that we do not lose them. We will try to protect the grants as much as we can in that environment so that we don’t lose all the money. The portion that we may lose, we will request for a rollover and now that we are within this intervention, we might stand a better chance at that approval.”
Morero said he was not concerned that the opposition would use his plea for support as an admission of weakness, and he was undeterred by detractors who may accuse him of being unfit to single-handedly turn things about.
“If you are serious about dealing with the backlogs of the past, which based on the performance reports of the city indicate that the decline started after 2016 at the point where the ANC lost power — we ought to be frank and honest about the state of the finances and infrastructure where the decline is glaring.”
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