Louw believes Mashaba will be a good mayor
BRYANSTON – Mashaba faces a huge challenge ahead of him, according to FMF executive director.
Herman Mashaba would probably spend his tenure at the helm of the City of Johannesburg behind the scenes convincing political organisations to accept his ideas. This is the view of Free Market Foundation (FMF) executive director, Leon Louw.
Before joining politics, Mashaba was a member of the FMF and he led the constitutional court battle against Section 32 of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) in order to allow small businesses to function effectively
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Talking to Randburg Sun on 24 August about what kind of a mayor Mashaba would make, Louw said, “He is an extraordinarily energetic person. He is sort of a person who succeeds when others fail.”
“When he announced that he was going into politics and joining the Democratic Alliance, most people thought he did not have any chance,” recalled Louw.
“Initially, his decision seemed almost impossible but he rises to the challenge and did it,” he said.
He explained that Mashaba was not ideological and hence he would need to convince other political parties to support his decisions.
According to him, Mashaba wanted to ensure that people who stay in the townships get title deeds for free but it would require him to convince other political organisations.
“He has a good heart to change the lives of people in the City but he faces an obvious challenge, he does not have the majority,” he explained.
He further explained that he would need to convince organisations such as Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF) who call for everything to be controlled by the State.
Louw further explained that it was more efficient to rely on contractors in order to maintain the City’s infrastructure such as traffic lights and roads.
“The easy way to do that is to outsource to the existing contractor rather than bureaucracy.”
However, to do this, he said that it would have to be done like it is done in business.
“He must give them a contract with key performances and penalty clauses. The way he used to get things done in business and that is exactly the formula he must follow to run the City’s council,” he concluded.
Details: Free Market Foundation, 011 884 0270.
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