‘For South Africa to succeed, Gauteng has to succeed’: Political parties clash at IOL elections debate in Joburg
|Published
The provincial government which will take the reins in Gauteng after the May 29 elections will have no option but to abolish the wastages and “self-promoting adverts” and redirect funds to create jobs, improve schools and improve healthcare.
This was said by ActionSA national chairperson Michael Beaumont at the IOL Elections Panel Discussion at the Sandton Radisson Blu hotel in Johannesburg on Friday.
Several representatives of different political parties in Gauteng streamed into the venue for the robust panel discussion coordinated by IOL staff.
“I think Gauteng plays such an important role in our country. I think for South Africa to succeed, Gauteng has to succeed. From our point of view, that means a number of very important steps need to be taken. I think any government involved in Gauteng is going to begin with the work which Herman Mashaba did in Johannesburg, that is to identify the perks, luxuries, and wastages of government and direct that money where it needs to be,” said Beaumont.
“In Joburg, R2 billion was identified from self-promoting advertising, international travel, conferencing and all the other wastages that have become common place. That needs to be pushed into the infrastructure priorities of the province. That needs to be the focus.”
The panel in the ongoing election discussion is made up of eight representatives of political parties including ANC Gauteng’s deputy secretary, Tasneem Motara; the Democratic Alliance’s Refiloe Nt’sekhe; Beaumont; Rise Mzansi’s Vuyiswa Ramokgopa; Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) Nthabiseng Tshivhenga; Bishop Dulton Adams representing the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), Patriotic Alliance (PA) deputy president and Gauteng premier candidate Kenny and Zandile Majozi for the Inkatha Freedom Party.
Majozi appealed to Gauteng residents to join her party in creating a government which is accountable and transparent.
“As we know, Gauteng is diverse in its industry as the people that live in it. We have mining, finance, logistics and communications. Gauteng is very conducive for investors to come but we have to deal with two pandemics we have in South Africa and especially in Gauteng – the pandemic of load shedding.
“Businesses cannot function because there is load shedding. There is six hours of no electricity and now businesses will have to spend on gas and having generators. As the IFP we want to deal with the load shedding by making sure that we get rid of the mismanagement in Eskom and we make sure we professionalise Eskom.”
She also decried the high rate of crime in Gauteng.
EFF’s Nthabiseng Tshivhenga who is also Ekurhuleni Speaker said her party is pushing for unification of Gauteng as a province and its municipalities.
“The realisation that we need to come to is that Gauteng is very congested and small. You literally can go across the street from one region to the other. This means there is no reason for a provincial and municipal government in Gauteng that are separated. What is needed and what the EFF proposes is that we need to have legislation that declares Gauteng as a province and its municipalities as a special economic zone,” she said.
IOL