Now that the Local Municipal Elections are over and done with and the battle for a governing alliance heats up, the big question on everybody’s lips is: Who will rule Johannesburg?
This is so because of both the political and economic significance of this city.
They often say when Cape Town sneezes, everyone catches a cold, and it can be safely said that when Joburg falters, everyone else does too.
Johannesburg is not only the economic hub of South Africa, but the entire continent of Africa. If you have travelled Africa before, and after democracy, you will tend to agree with me that everybody out there in Africa is dying to set foot in this golden city of ours.
Now the challenge for whoever comes in to take over the reigns of power in this so-called world-class African city [although world class in filth and decay] will have to work hard to keep the status quo of esteem in which fellow Africans hold our city, which now has nothing to show except filth, grime and dilapidation.
Whosoever takes power in this city will have to prioritise the rejuvenation of the city, not just as the economic epicentre of Africa, but also to create a world-class African city in terms of cleanliness as well as the eradication of poverty.
We will expect that person to ensure Johannesburg is clean, Johannesburg is renewed, Johannesburg is safe for all its residents – black, white, pink, male, female, gay, lesbian, transgender and so forth. And that the economy of the city is revitalised and taken to the next level where it can cater for all its inhabitants.
We will expect from him or her a crime-free Johannesburg, where our colleagues of the fairer gender can also walk freely without being mugged for their handbags, their cellphones snatched while in street conversations, their earrings plucked mid-shopping and their pendants wrestled from their necks with the utmost of cruelty.
He or she must clean out the hijacked buildings and deal with the slumlords and drug peddlers who have taken over our streets with impunity. We will expect this number one citizen of the city to unleash the mightiest of the law enforcement agencies on all these forms of evil that currently bedevil our beloved Johannesburg.
Joburg was once the cleanest city and envy of all, and I am sure if Verwoerd were to rise from his grave to see what has become of this city, he would curse the black man even further.
As Africans, we plead with our incoming administration not to take us for granted but to endeavour to make the black nation proud by leading a clean and corruption-free administration. We want to prove our detractors wrong, that as Africans, we’re fit to rule and can also preside over and lead clean governments that have their citizens at heart. There is one clean administration that has its citizens at heart, and that is Botswana, so close to us yet we failed to learn from them and, instead, we have brought (from our years in exile) all the negatives from the mother of all corruption in Africa and the world – Nigeria.
