Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane (center), flanked by mayors Herman Mashaba of Joburg, Tshwane's Solly Msimanga, Cape Town's Patricia De Lille and Nelson Mandela Bay's Athol Trollip at a media briefing in Soweto. Picture: Getrude Makhafola/ANA
A group known for calling for a nationwide shutdown in an attempt to get president Ramaphosa to issue what they considered a “respectable response” to the so-called coloured community for what the groups saw as its exclusion from the economy have now set their sites on Tshwane mayor Solly Msimanga, who they accuse of “blatant lies, dishonesty, disrespect, and a nonchalant attitude” and Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba, who they describe as “aloof”.
The Gauteng Shut-Down Co-ordinating Committee (GSCC) complain that pensioners are receiving bills of over R100,000 and that the two DA mayors have “done nothing” in their communities and turned “a blind eye” on promises they were meant to keep. The GSCC alleges that the two mayors preside over municipalities fraught with a “lack of decent human settlements, youth marginalisation, and old age people neglect”.
The organisation wants the “deafness and stubbornness” of the mayors to end, saying the “communities of Eersterust and those located in Joburg have lost all hope in the ability of these mayors to deliver services to the people, especially the classified coloured people”.
The GSCC rejects the term coloured, with one of their organisers, Anthony Williams, saying that his people have been “wrongly identified that way”. Rather, Williams says they are the “children of the first nation of this country”.
READ MORE: ‘So-called coloured’ protesters target Gauteng premier, JSE with Blood Friday shutdown
The organisation alleges that some communities in Gauteng receive adequate services while others don’t, and in response, they are looking to launch a series of protests to “close down areas where the mayors operate”.
They also want an end to what they see as their exclusion from the economy, saying: “Our businesses must always pick up the scraps or get subcontracts”, and adding they want the mayors to approve the setting aside of business deals for those “classified coloured businesses”.
A statement from GSCC says: “We want to be part of the economy of the cities going forward, and if they refuse, we will punish them by interrupting strategic institutions and businesses.”
The statement also complains about spaza shops owned by foreigners who they claim are “taking away our local economy”. They want to close these shops down.
Ironically, the organisation and the two DA mayors may be in agreement over their belief that foreigners are a problem.
READ MORE: Msimanga demands that Gigaba ‘deal with’ immigrants
Both Msimanga and Mashaba have been at the centre of accusations of xenophobia in the past.
Msimanga was accused of xenophobia when he said in May last year: “I don’t want to sound xenophobic, but in all the raids we have done, Nigerians topped the list of the people involved in drugs.”
Mashaba was accused of the same after accusing undocumented migrants of being the masterminds behind inner-city crime in 2016.
The GCSS ended their statement by saying that they need to “become more radical” in a bid to fight the two mayors and other politicians.
“Together we will assist in organising and mobilizing the poor and the working class to revolt against the capitalist system of oppression. Together we will create a unified movement that will truly improve our society. Together we will liberate ourselves.”
(Compiled by Daniel Friedman)
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