The Tshwane and Johannesburg metros are a mess, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
“I also want to say, ‘my deepest sympathies’. It’s a mess,” De Lille told her DA counterparts, Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga and Johannesburg’s Herman Mashaba, shortly before she lauded her own city’s progress.<\/p>\n
De Lille, Msimanga, Mashaba, and party leader Mmusi Maimane were briefing reporters in Johannesburg following a two-day federal council meeting.<\/p>\n
Cape Town has been under the DA’s control since 2009. The party took control of Tshwane, Johannesburg, and Nelson Mandela Bay following local government elections in August.<\/p>\n
Msimanga and Mashaba revealed the alleged misspending and mismanagement they had uncovered after taking over.<\/p>\n
Maimane said they were cases of “local state capture”.<\/p>\n
Msimanga said he found the City of Tshwane “technically bankrupt”. He found a R30-million “slush fund” the previous mayor had controlled, the city manager’s office saddled with an annual R96-million salary bill and botched upgrades to City Hall which had cost R90 million.<\/p>\n
A total of R12 million had been spent on upgrades to the mayor’s home. He described them as a disaster and not worth the money spent on them.<\/p>\n
“But this all pales in comparison to uncovering the fact that the mayor’s own office was inflated to employ over 900 people, costing almost R250 million a year in salaries.”<\/p>\n
It was difficult to understand what work all these people were employed to do.<\/p>\n
“You ask what they are doing and you cannot get an answer. This speaks to the capture of the government in order to continue patronage networks,” Msimanga said.<\/p>\n
The irony, he said was that the city could not attend to basic services due to a shortage of plumbers, cleaners, electricians, and welders.<\/p>\n
“We are trying to get rid of the bloating at the top.”<\/p>\n
Msimanga said he had stopped lavish catering, banquets, and parties, to save money for service delivery.<\/p>\n
Ten BMWs purchased for municipal officials were handed to the metro police’s anti-hijacking unit.<\/p>\n
‘Historical neglect’<\/strong><\/p>\n Mashaba said Johannesburg had serious service delivery backlogs. The city was tackling billing issues and he hoped to speed up the process of granting residents title deeds.<\/p>\n While the public service was demoralised and “infested by patronage”, things were looking up.<\/p>\n “We are impressed by the commitment of so many senior executives to pledge their support for the new direction the city is taking,” he said.<\/p>\n In Nelson Mandela Bay, steps were being taken to increase cash reserves, according to a report presented at the briefing.<\/p>\n One questionable expenditure had been a contract to supply light bulbs for R600 per bulb.<\/p>\n The DA said one senior executive director in the metro had been appointed despite criminal convictions and outstanding criminal investigations for corruption.<\/p>\n The party promised that the metro would soon live up to the legacy of its namesake.<\/p>\n Mayor Athol Trollip was unable to attend the briefing as he got married over the weekend.<\/p>\n Maimane was scathing about the ANC, but upbeat about his party’s work and the influence of ordinary citizens.<\/p>\n He called President Jacob Zuma “the Godfather of corruption and state capture”.<\/p>\n “The ANC is beyond repair. The ANC has entered its final hours,” he said.<\/p>\n He encouraged South Africans not to give up hope.<\/p>\n “Because we are winning. The good guys are winning.”<\/p>\n