Parks Tau said young people will be the cornerstone of the development of the City. Tau was speaking at the Gauteng ANC’s official announcement of their mayoral candidates in the province.
In a brief statement, the current mayor of the City of Johannesburg said more youth empowerment initiatives will continue to be rolled out to ensure the upliftment of young people in the City, should his party retain power after the August 3 local government elections. “We are engaging young people and are taking advantage of the digital space to enhance their abilities.”
Without mincing his words, Tau said the legacy of apartheid’s segregation has to be resolved in spatial terms. He did talk about some of the programmes that the City, under his leadership, is working on to bring about inclusive spatial planning.
The Corridors of Freedom is one such programme which, he said, will transform entrenched settlement patterns which have shunted the majority of residents to the outskirts of the City, away from economic opportunities and access to jobs and growth.
Tau was among the 11 mayoral candidates who were officially announced by the ANC. Introducing them, provincial chairperson of the party, Paul Mshatile said they have no doubt that all the candidates will carry out their duties to the best of their abilities, while putting the needs of the people first.
The announcement was made at ANC’s Ruth First House in Saxonwold on 23 June.
The embattled mayoral candidate for the City of Tshwane, Thoko Didiza was also present and appeared calm and unperturbed by the unrest which has erupted in the capital city following the announcement of her name as the mayoral candidate.
Didiza stated that she doesn’t believe all the violence and looting that is taking place in some of the townships in Pretoria had anything to do with her being named as the mayoral candidate. “To what extent does the naming of a mayoral candidate have to do with [the] looting of a shop, [the] overturning of someone’s vehicle? Surely it cannot be because of the naming of the mayoral candidate?”
Didiza did, however, mention that communities need to find better ways of resolving conflict without resorting to violence. She also said she is confident that her party will retain the City of Tshwane and said she is ready to serve the people of the capital city.
