ActionSA leader and Johannesburg mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba says one of his first acts in office, if elected, would be to collapse key municipal entities including City Power and Joburg Water.
Johannesburg’s municipal-owned entities include City Power, Joburg Water, Pikitup, the Johannesburg Roads Agency and the Johannesburg Development Agency. They each operate with their own boards and management structures but ultimately report to the city.
Speaking on the Sunday Times Politics Weekly podcast, Mashaba said the city’s utility entities and their boards had become layers of inefficiency and political interference, contributing to worsening service delivery, infrastructure decay and financial strain.
“City entities like Joburg Water, City Power and so forth, I’ve got to collapse them. These boards are not adding any value. In fact, I’m openly saying they’re a liability to the residents of the city of Johannesburg,” Mashaba said.
Mashaba said collapsing these entities would save money and speed up service delivery. “You can take that money, whatever quantum it is, that money can go into servicing the residents, going to fix water pipes and sewer pipes, our roads and so forth.”
He stressed that consequence management would be a core part of his approach, rewarding efficiency and holding underperforming or corrupt officials accountable.
“For me, consequence management is not only for negative. You know, those who do well, you recognise them. You must reward them. And those who are in these jobs to come and steal, we must be able to deal with them,” he said.
Mashaba, who served as Johannesburg mayor from 2016 to 2019, claimed his prior experience would give him an advantage in tackling the city’s challenges. “This time around, I’ve got three years’ experience of the city. That’s the reason why I managed to convince my guys when my other colleagues made themselves available, with the turnaround.
“Already I know where the loopholes are, I know where the cadres are hiding. And the very same cadres, some of them that actually laid criminal charges … they are back in the city. And I’m warning them. I’m already sending a signal that in the event people of Johannesburg give me the mandate to be the mayor, as soon as I’m sworn in, they must run before I come in.”
Mashaba also signalled he would immediately review the city’s finances, revenue collection and development approvals, promising to act on council-approved reports left unexecuted after his resignation. “I don’t have to start from scratch. I want that report back into council and I’m going to hold officials and politicians [accountable] who did not execute a council-approved report.”
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The podcast is hosted by Sunday Times deputy editor Mike Siluma and produced by Bulelani Nonyukela.
