Joburg is back in the hands of Geoff Makhubo and ANC professional looters

Today is a sad day for the people of Johannesburg who believed in and supported the DA-led multiparty coaltion government, even during the toughest of times. We had made great progress in building a City all residents could be proud of. Today, that project will be undone.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) put forward the very capable and experienced Councillor Funzela ‘Funzi’ Ngobeni as its candidate for Johannesburg Mayor. We Believe Cllr Ngobeni was the right person to fully put into action the commitments made to residents in 2016. A commitment to stop corruption, accelerate the delivery of services and create job opportunities.

Notably, the ANC again put forward its own candidate, Councillor Geoff Makhubo, who is deeply compromised due to his alleged corrupt involvement in a City of Johannesburg tender, which has allegedly enriched him to the tune of R30-million. While Cllr Makhubo was meant to be delivering services and putting the people first, he looted the City’s coffers. Cllr Makhubo is not the man to build a working city; the ANC is not a party which holds sacred the needs of residents.

Today the City of Johannesburg is in the hands the money-hungry ANC, which will rapidly reverse the progress made over the last three years, as is the dire situation in Nelson Mandela Bay.

In just three years of DA governance, service delivery across the City has been accelerated, cost-saving measures have been put in place to ensure that money goes back into communities, billions of Rands in investment has been attracted, and more JMPD officers than ever before have been recruited.

If we had been granted the opportunity to take the City to 2021, Johannesburg would be a City for all its residents to be proud of.

Although this is a loss and a setback, we will not give up the fight against ANC corruption. 2021 will present the people of Johannesburg and the country an opportunity to vote for DA-led governments that always put the people first.

We will not give up the fight to ensure the people’s money is spent on service delivery.

Statement issued by Mike Moriarty - DA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, 4 December 2019