Makhura admitted ANC stole the Alexandra Renewal money – DA

Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng leader John Moodey has issued a press release accusing Premier David Makhura of having admitted that the ANC’s Johannesburg government stole billions meant for the Alexandra Renewal Project.

Makhura called for an audit of the project, saying he “dismisses any notion that national government put billions of rands into the Alexandra Renewal Project”.

According to Moodey, Makhura also made an “interesting admission” that the “former ANC administration stole the R1.7 billion allocated to the Alex Renewal Project”.

Where the figure of R1.7 billion comes from is unclear, as according to Wikipedia the estimated budget for the project was R1.3 billion over seven years, with the City of Johannesburg website also stating the national government allocated R1.3 billion for the project.

Moodey’s statement accuses a “desperate” ANC of trying to “mislead and confuse the public”, further alleging that the Alex shutdown had been carried out by ANC members “leading a programme of violence and civil unrest, and in so doing abusing the legitimate concerns and needs of Alex residents”.

READ MORE: ‘ANC councillors are the leaders’ of the Alex shutdown – Mashaba

Turning his attention to the money meant for the Alex Renewal Project, Moodey said: “Makhura stated that a full audit into the stolen Alex Renewal Project will be conducted. The project announced in 2001 by former president Thabo Mbeki never fully got off the ground, yet the billions allocated for development in Alex were never accounted for.

“Presumably, these funds meant for the people of Alex ended up in the pockets of ANC politicians, who were rejected by the people of Johannesburg in 2016.

“The Democratic Alliance (DA) has long called for accountability for these stolen funds and presented evidence but this has fallen on deaf ears.

“Now that the ANC no longer governs Johannesburg and faces losing Gauteng, they have resorted to a coordinated programme of anarchy and criminality in Alex, which has backfired, with the people of South Africa seeing through the lies and deception of the ANC.

READ MORE: ANC has silenced legitimate concerns of Alex – Mashaba

“President Cyril Ramaphosa and Premier Makhura have done nothing but watch as their members criminalise and hijack the community of Alex for their own narrow political means, all while the people suffer.”

Spokesperson for Makhura, Castro Ngobese, slammed the statement as well as an earlier version of this article in which the premier’s office was not approached for comment.

“The Premier held a media briefing immediately after he met with the Alexandra total shutdown leadership to publicly communicate the outcomes of the meeting, including how government will take forward the grievances of the community,” Ngobese said.

“Nowhere in his address to the media did he infer that the ‘ANC Johannesburg squandered the money meant for Alex Renewal Project (ARP),'” he continued.

READ MORE: Alex shutdown ‘leader’ is an ANCYL member who removed EFF posters

Moodey’s take on the situation in Alex mirrors that of Mashaba, who has accused the ANC of orchestrating the shutdown for votes and has alleged that the shutdown was led by ANC councillors and officials.

The Johannesburg mayor told a press conference this morning that the people of Alex “have been lied to for many years”.

He alleged that government promised money for the Alexandra Renewal Project, which never materialised, saying he asked Makhura as well as former MEC Paul Mashatile about the funding “for over two years”, receiving no answers.

Elsewhere during his address at the press conference, Mashaba alleged that three ANC council members were suspended after “serious misconduct” arising from an Ethics Committee report, and that one of these councillors – Tefor Raphadu of Ward 105 – was now leading the Alex protests.

It was reported earlier that another Alex shutdown leader, the ANCYL’s Kenneth Mgaga, had been photographed taking down EFF posters in January.

UPDATE: This story was updated to include comment from the office of the premier, 11:43 Monday April 15. 

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