Maverick mayor Mashaba was just starting to succeed – analysts

Outgoing Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba is a maverick – which was exactly what the Democratic Alliance (DA) needed to deal with the various crises the city experienced over the years.

This was the view political analysts gave The Citizen about Mashaba, who yesterday announced his resignation at a packed media briefing, also attended by members of the mayoral committee, senior municipal officials and City of Joburg employees.

Although Mashaba had no strong ideology, he was starting to succeed in certain areas of service delivery and his declared fight against corruption, the analysts said.

Ralph Mathekga said the DA deserved a leader of Mashaba’s calibre in a place like Johannesburg, where services had almost collapsed, including a billing system that was in tatters and endemic corruption.

“There are things that he did right, such as the crisis in the billing system,” said Mathekga. “He tried to fight corruption [and] he took a public posture against corruption although, on the ground, nothing much has changed.”

“I may not agree with him, [but] he was a man of integrity, he was quite a genuine politician and he tried to install people’s confidence in leadership.”

At the same time, he said, Mashaba was a populist and liked by ordinary people, even though he was “ideologically all over the place”.

According to Mathekga, the DA could have used Mashaba to increase its support in Gauteng.

“Mashaba is a maverick. At some point he could have helped the DA to expand in Gauteng,” Mathekga said.

Although his ideology was not strong, he had taken a clear stand on Helen Zille, the former DA leader.

Mathekga’s sentiments were mirrored by another analyst, Dirk Kotze, a political science professor at the University of South Africa.

He commended Mashaba for stabilising refuse removal, particularly the operations of sanitation utility Pikitup, which had faced numerous problems.

“Pikitup was a disaster but Mashaba managed to contain the problems that beset the company,” Kotze said.

He added the delivery of electricity had improved, while the billing system was moving in the right direction – although not yet perfect.

Infrastructure development, particularly the replacement of old infrastructure, had made progress.

But Kotze was concerned about human settlements and spatial development.

Recently, Mashaba was praised by the trade unions in the municipality for taking progressive steps, such as insourcing cleaning services and security, which saw hundreds of workers absorbed into the metro – something the previous ANC administration had failed to do.

Mashaba also signed a deal with the South African Municipal Workers’ Union and Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union to cooperate to ensure service delivery and agree to consultation on various municipal matters.

Meanwhile, the ANC in the greater Johannesburg region lashed out at Mashaba, saying it was not shocked by his resignation.

“Mashaba’s resignation has little to do with the election of Helen Zille as DA chairperson,” said regional spokesperson Jolidee Matongo. “His resignation is informed by the dire financial crisis that he plunged the City of Joburg into.

“He has, over time, been able to get away with lies about the financial affairs of the city.”

Mashaba was running away because the truth was soon going to be exposed, that the city was broke and may not be able to finance the day-to-day basic costs of providing water and electricity to the residents, and staff payments, he said.

– ericn@citizen.co.za

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.