Fiddle with mayor while Joburg rots

Even by South African local government’s Alice in Wonderland standards, the circus in the Johannesburg council chamber yesterday produced new levels of irony.

DA executive mayor Mpho Phalatse was ousted in a “vote of no confidence”, after similarly being ousted and then later bouncing back.

ALSO READ: Mpho Phalatse ousted from office through no-confidence motion

The citizens of the richest city in this country would like to have their own vote of no confidence in this collection of professional bickerers who supposedly represent us. Yet, we cannot do that – at least until the next local government elections roll around.

In the meantime, our councillors seem to be more concerned with playing their irrelevant political games than they do in trying to arrest the obvious – and ongoing – decay of the erstwhile “City of Gold”.

If only as much energy was devoted to garbage collection, pothole repairs and cleaning of municipal parks as is to the conniving and backstabbing which goes on behind closed doors, then we might one day get a half-decent city.

ALSO READ: ActionSA to put forward its own mayoral candidate to replace DA’s Phalatse

Clearly, there is plenty at stake – getting close to the local gravy train, for example. And the small parties know they can exercise power far in excess of their actual influence.

Nero fiddled while Rome burned. You lot fiddle while Joburg rots.