DA Mayoral candidate, Herman Mashaba has invited the City of Johannesburg Mayor, Mpho Parks Tau for a public debate over the growing unemployment crisis in Johannesburg.
Mashaba made the challenge in a press statement he released soon after staging a march for jobs in Diepsloot on 17 May.
“We march on behalf of the 66 000 people who lost their jobs in the first four months of this year, and on the one in four people who wake up every day without a job,” said Mashaba.
“Today, I stand before you to issue a challenge to Mayor Parks Tau, come and debate me on the growing unemployment crisis facing our beloved city.”
Mashaba lashed out at the ANC government for breeding unemployment against a background of unemployed millions living in Johannesburg. “I am calling upon Mayor Parks Tau to defend the record of the ANC at all levels of government in job creation. The DA is working hard to win Johannesburg to get the city back to work. Because we know that if Johannesburg works, South Africa works,” said Mashaba.
He boasted about his party’s record of creating jobs. “The Western Cape, where the DA governs, is the only province with increased employment levels since January this year. We want to bring this change to Johannesburg too,” said Mashaba.
He scoffed at ANC slogans saying, “We are marching because there is no freedom without economic freedom. Without jobs, we cannot roll back poverty. Without jobs, we cannot roll back hunger. Without jobs, we cannot roll back the roadblocks to opportunities.”
