New Ekurhuleni mayor Tania Campbell rolls up her sleeves

Ekurhuleni’s newly elected mayor, Tania Campbell, has spent the past 48 hours wading through phone calls, meetings, WhatsApp messages and interviews.

But on Tuesday, she took time out to get down to the nuts and bolts of being an executive mayor.

Hitting the ground running, the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) first mayor in the metro has great ambitions to really make a difference and to get fixing. Although she said not everything was broken.

Being elected mayor came as a huge surprise for Campbell. She said she did not expect it, given that the DA didn’t intend to form a coalition with the ANC or the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

But prior to the vote for speaker and mayor, the EFF’s Floyd Shivambu visited his party’s caucus behind closed doors.

“It must have been then that the voting direction was shared,” said Campbell.

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It was an unprecedented moment in South African politics. The EFF holds the balance of decision-making power over the minority government that Campbell will form.

But she said that based on past misfortunes between the parties in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth municipalities, the approach might have to be different this time.

Campbell said that local structures and the DA’s national structures were working on suggested solutions to avoid stumbling blocks and to forge a path to deliver the best possible circumstances for ratepayers.

“We need to meet, new talks have to start and that has to flow into structures and how we govern.”

Campbell replaced campaign mayoral candidate Refiloe Nt’sekhe, who withdrew her candidacy six days after the election to serve in the provincial legislature as an MPL.

Campbell has a week to form a mayoral committee and get the executive working. She said she was excited and nervous at the same time, primarily because of what the new administration might uncover over the coming months.

Her first order of business would be to assemble the executive. Thereafter, it was the turn of city officials.

“There are some excellent professionals in service of the city,” she said, but intimated there were others who have sat on their hands.

“Services to all communities is a high priority and it’s time for the various departments to stand up to the task.”

She added that during previous mayor Mzwandile Masina’s tenure, councillors from opposition parties were not allowed access to heads of various departments.

“It was impossible to get answers or to even attempt to solve issues for residents. Communication is a priority and no matter which party you are from, your constituents deserve answers.”

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At the top of her agenda is getting things done. “This is not about big budget items,” said Campbell.

“Rather, let’s sort out streetlights, potholes, sewage, blown fuses in electricity boxes.”

She said there was a 100-day plan in the making to deliver to every community in the metro where delivery has been lacking.

She expected delivery to be visible soon. Campbell planned to examine the budget and see where allocations may be moved or applied to maintenance of infrastructure.

“In many instances, the poorest of the poor have had the short end of the stick when it came to maintenance and the provision of services. This is an absolute priority for me.”

– news@citizen.co.za