Hope never despairs

The sweet smell of spring is in the air, accompanied by the promise of rain.

The first signs of the change of season were accompanied by some timely signs earlier this week. Fresh new winds of change started blowing in Joburg and two of her neighbouring cities.

The announcement by the newly elected ‘regime’ in Gauteng that senior positions in their administrations will not be going to ‘pals’, but will be open to a transparent recruitment process, must be music to the ears of most of our readers.

It literally felt as though an atmosphere shift took place when Gauteng DA leader John Moodey made this announcement on Monday. He emphasised that it is vital that residents receive quality services, on time and in a dignified manner. This can only be done when competent staff serve the residents of our metros.

What this boils down to is that Joburg, Tshwane and Mogale City will no longer be held captive by greed and avarice.

Moodey did not only promise that all recruitment processes will be open, inclusive and transparent. He also vowed that the selection processes will be subject to public scrutiny.

What a breath of fresh air.

The focus has suddenly shifted to service delivery with the undertaking that the most competent individuals will be appointed to move these cities forward.

We suddenly have hope. And as many famous muses have said, hope never despairs.

So, here’s ‘hoping’ that we will be seeing fewer power outages, fewer strikes, fewer water cuts, less rubbish in the streets and less crime.

May we also see more transparency combined with solutions for cable theft, illegal connections and the growing vagrant problem.