Masina arrived late to address the councillors, officials, invited guests and the general public with no formal apology at the KwaThema Stadium on the March 27. One of the key themes that came through in his short-lived speech was the wicked revelation that a total of 11 000 title deeds that haven’t been handed to housing beneficiaries.
A shocking statistic, given the housing crisis within the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE).
He then went on to gloat about the number of grants that the City is expected to receive from the Gauteng Provincial Government, stating that premier David Makhura knows that Ekurhuleni is key for him to avoid governing through a coalition after the 2019 national and provincial elections. Clearly, this is a political move by the incumbent mayor who previously promised to resign should Cyril Ramaphosa become ANC president. Masina made sure that he mentioned the seven suspended officials for allegedly being involved in corrupt activities, yet he forgot to mention that he, himself, had to be dragged before Council regarding a highly contentious report on transport that resulted in a suspension of a HOD official.
The following day at an ordinary Council meeting in Germiston, it emerged through the Municipal Public Account Committee (MPAC) reported that there was over R1.6-billion in fruitless and wasteful expenditure for the 2016/17 financial year. Masina claimed that he was only responsible for R270-million of the figure and blamed the rest on his predecessor, Mondli Gungubele. The lack of accountability is appalling and it seems like Masina was on a mission to prove the incompetence of the Metro as a whole.
The DA will continue to hold the governing ANC to account in the interests of a better life for all the residents.
Clr Khetha Shandu
DA programming committee spokesperson
EKURHULENI
