DA’s Masha heads JoburgAfter a tense council meeting held on Monday, DA councillor Herman Mashaba is the new mayor of Johannesburg, defeating Parks Tau. New mayor says corruption is public enemy number one After a tense council meeting held on Monday, DA councillor Herman Mashaba is the new mayor of Johannesburg, defeating Parks Tau. DA councillor Herman Mashaba was voted in as mayor of Johannesburg during a council meeting on Monday night.He defeated the ANC’s candidate and previous mayor Parks Tau with 144 votes to 125. The DA also claimed positions of speaker of council and chief whip.
After the announcement of his victory, Mashaba said a few words on what first order of business would be creating jobs.
“Our government needs to create an enabling environment. Small businesses, you will be my biggest friends,” Mashaba said.
He also said corruption will be “public enemy number one”.
He later told eNCA that he looked forward to working with the EFF, who helped Mashaba to win the Joburg ticket.
He also said council workers in the city needn’t worry about their jobs, as long as they worked well.
Voting for both mayor and chief whip took place well into the night, following a day of drama and tragedy. ANC councillor, Nonhlanhla Mthembu, 50, collapsed and died just before voting for mayor was due to start.
Mashaba expressed his condolences to the ANC. Out of respect for Mthembu, he said he would postpone his inaugural speech to the council’s next sitting on September 13.
During a brief speech, he acknowledged the presence of EFF MP Floyd Shivambu and party spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi. Last week, EFF leader Julius Malema said the party would vote with the DA in the major metros of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, and Nelson Mandela Bay.
The DA’s mayoral candidate for Johannesburg Herman Mashaba promised to keep the city’s clinics open 24/7.
“I intend throwing away the keys to city-run clinics and they will be open 24 hours a day to cater for the needs of Joburg’s residents,” he said in a speech prepared for delivery at the Princess informal settlement in Roodepoort.
He lamented shortages at the clinics and claimed the needs of the community were being ignored.
Mashaba said the Princess Clinic was severely under-resourced and under-staffed and was battling to cope with the numbers of people who come for care from the surrounding areas.
The Princess informal settlement grew from a settlement on old plots between Roodepoort and Krugersdorp. Built close to the railway line and the main roads that once connected the towns, the community has grown rapidly over the years.
The city has been arranging electrical connections and water access, and is providing some housing.
Job creation is also a number-one priority for Mashaba.
He intended creating “thousands” of jobs in his first year in office by investing in infrastructure and supporting entrepreneurs.
Mashaba, himself an entrepreneur behind a line of haircare products, said he would provide free transport to allow people to get to work and job interviews.
Mashaba said Tau spent millions on billboards and advertisements, but did nothing about unemployment in the city.
“He must be held accountable,” Mashaba said.
“Thank you very much, for what you have done for this country,” he told them.
He pledged to develop Johannesburg and vowed to end corruption. Government should not be an employer, but create an enabling environment for the private sector to employ people, he said.
NEWS24