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There is no smoke without fire

Nie Cele

Allegations by the Democratic Alliance (DA) that the ANC-controlled Johannesburg municipality is in a state of managerial anarchy because of mismanagement of finances must not be taken lightly.

For months the DA has cried foul about the city council being broke, and what has fanned the flames is that the City of Johannesburg has been as vociferous in its denials, decrying the claims as hogwash manufactured by the opposition party to score political points.
At some stage the mayor told the DA to first win elections and be the ruling party before making such a noise. But for city council to deny it’s broke in one sentence and, in the next, join its entity the Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) to beg for help to fix potholes certainly gives much meat to the DA’s accusations.
It’s now high time municipality gives a full explanation of what’s cooking in its finance department.
Why is it failing to fix potholes with its budget? Where is the service delivery its citizens pay for?
KFC has donated R200 000 to JRA to fix potholes. This follows the public appeal from city manager Mavela Dlamini for companies to assist the municipality in dealing with potholes.
All we can hope for now is the money is used for just that, and not some fishy tenderpreneur deals finish and klaar.
citybeat@caxton.co.za