The ‘firepool excuse’ makes a comeback in Joburg

It’s entertaining to see that the “firepool excuse” attitude is alive and well and living deep within the corridors of the City of Joburg.

A “firepool excuse” is one which makes sense in the mind of the person uttering it, but to everyone else, it is laughingly silly.

That’s the only way to describe city spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane’s vehement protests that the city did not pay social media influencers to burnish the image of mayor Dada Morero.

These internet airheads are normally paid to gush about everything from cars, to fashion to booze.

ALSO READ: City of Johannesburg denies using social media influencers to promote mayor

A number of them spontaneously decided last week to post on X, using the hashtag #JoburgServiceDelivery, showering praise on the wonderful Morero and his single-handed rescue of the city. Performance so impressive it attracted the attention of an influencer in Pinetown in KZN…

How lucky is that, from a marketing point of view?

Said Modingoane: “We can categorically state that the city and mayor have not engaged any influencers, nor initiated any paid campaigns on X or any other social media platform to amplify the mayor’s initiatives or highlight his work.”

If any of your ratepayers actually believe that, you could sell them a farm in Eloff Street…

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