Mashaba made this promise during a visit to the Rosebank Homeless Shelter on 9 March, accompanied by Ward 117 councillor, Tim Truluck, and chairperson of the Rosebank Homeless Association, Judith Briggs.
For Mashaba, a widely respected and established businessman, the final straw came with the axing of finance minister, Nhlanhla Nene, at the end of last year. His business acumen allowed him deeper insight into the situation and current state of the South African economy.
“Overnight, I dropped everything and I said to myself: ‘Herman, if you don’t lead, then who will?” Mashaba explained.
“One day, I don’t want to my children to think that I knew what was going on and did nothing about it.”
He further explained that the unemployment rate in Joburg is of grave concern. “Once people aren’t working, we’ve got big problems. The reason these people do not have jobs is because of the economic stagnation and decline,” said Mashaba.
“So we need to really find a way to turn the economy around so that we can provide employment for our people.”
So what does he propose to resolve the situation, one might ask. “We need to get backing from the private business sector. The government can’t employ everyone. I believe the only way we can address high unemployment is by involving local businesses. The government needs the private sector more than the private sector needs government,” Mashaba stated.
“With just under six million taxpayers and more than 16 million grant recipients, it’s a very unsustainable situation, so we need to do something to turn it around. We have to find a way to save these people’s [the homeless] lives.”
Details: 011 447 3501.
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