He is dubbed by his party members as the mayor-in-waiting.
DA mayoral candidate Herman Mashaba said during his campaigning he had seen areas that needed special attention in the city.
He added, confidently, that when he took office in the City of Johannesburg, he would bring a lot of changes that would move the city forward and was ready to lead a government that listened to the concerns of the people. Mashaba said he did not want to be mayor for the sake of holding office but because he wanted to serve Joburg and turn it into the great city it should be.
“Laws that hinder business and create red tape will be reviewed in the first 100 days of our administration,” he promised.
Mashaba said Johannesburg was bleeding jobs, with 869 000 of the city’s residents being unemployed and 66 000 who joined the jobless ranks during the first quarter of this year.
Among other things, youth employment is at the top of Mashaba’s agenda. He said the unemployment rate among young people in Johannesburg was too high. “Jobs are not created at the needed speed. One in three young people is unemployed.”
Mashaba mentioned that he would make corruption his biggest enemy. He said taxpayers’ money should not be seen as the government’s because that would make it disappear – the money must be seen as the people’s money. “It will be protected from thieves who want to spend the money on themselves,” said Mashaba.
He added that he would also curb corruption within the Metro police by establishing an integrity unit which would be accountable to the mayor and the City Council. Public transport is also on top of his agenda. The mayoral hopeful said he would ensure that an integrated ticketing system was put in place and residents would be able to use one ticket across all modes of public transport.
Mashaba urged Joburg residents to vote wisely on 3 August. “We are set on winning Johannesburg in this year’s local elections so that we can bring clean [governance] that will cut corruption, accelerate service delivery and create jobs,” he concluded.
Mashaba is a successful businessman and entrepreneur who joined the DA in 2014.
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