After a one-hour delay, with members of the press awaiting his arrival, journalists were informed that the mayor wouldn’t attend the event due to fatigue.
Themba Gadebe, spokesman for the metro, says Masina promises to attend the November press club and address issues then.
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In his place and on short notice, the MMC of Human Settlements Clr. Lesiba Mpya, addressed members of the media.
Mpya started off by talking about the illegal occupation of land in Ekurhuleni and how they will place emphasis on the matter, having ambitious targets and intentions to develop land.
“We are giving a strong message to those who illegally occupy land – we will not tolerate it,” he says.
“We are still ranked the highest municipality in South Africa, if not Africa, for number of informal settlements, with 119 of them in Ekurhuleni.”
Mpya states that they have started engaging with informal settlements, planning to deliver services to the people.
“These informal settlements have to start being habitable; we want to give them proper access to roads, electricity and water.”
Speaking on corruption, Mpya says: “We will take ownership of wrongs happening in departments and correct them.
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“We will hunt for the corrupters and victims of corruption; cleanse ourselves of these people and run a credible process.”
When asked how many corrupted metro employees have been arrested to date, Mpya stated that they have not yet held anyone accountable, but have ‘smelt a rat’ and are following up on the matter.
“We are making internal investigations and won’t leave any stone unturned.
“People’s heads will definitely roll.
“That’s my 2c worth,” Mpya concluded.
