So Many Questions on Herman Mashaba's state of the city address

Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba delivered his first state of the city speech this week. Chris Barron asked him. . .

Your greatest success so far?

Being able to pass through my first adjustment budget end of February and put together my first budget for 2017-18, which I need to get approved at the end of this month. Putting together that budget was one of the most difficult challenges.

Why?

You can imagine inheriting a city which this time last year was projected as this world-class city with the community being given the impression that this is a well-oiled municipality — you get in and realise the massive challenges.

The biggest being?

How do I get an infrastructure spend of R10-billion to address a R170-billion infrastructure backlog?

story_article_left1

Was it hard agreeing a budget with the EFF?

No, they've been remarkable. And I'm not saying this lightly but with a deep sense of appreciation for the insights I've gained from working with them to ensure we use our limited budget to address the challenges of poverty.

They said they expected more from your state of city address?

Well, I expected more, but when you've only got ...

They said you're focusing on corruption to the exclusion of other things that need doing.

Well, no, you can't run government like you're running the Hawks. Government is about providing services, it can't just be about corruption only. It doesn't even represent 5% of the issues I have to deal with on a daily basis.

How bad is it?

Oh, my goodness. It was not corruption in Johannesburg that was going on, it was looting of state resources. Our forensics department is sitting with more than 300 cases.

How well is your investigations unit working with the Hawks and NPA?

Two or three weeks ago I had to lay a criminal charge against General [Berning] Ntlemeza who, it came to my attention, had given instructions to some people in the Hawks and the prosecuting authority no longer to pursue cases of corruption in the City of Johannesburg. I've laid a case with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, and I'm glad they've taken it up and are taking it seriously.

Who are the people Ntlemeza was trying to protect?

Some of the cases involve senior people, which is probably the reason he doesn't want to charge. But if he's not going to charge we'll be forced to do a private prosecution.

Would that be legal?

Absolutely. The constitution allows me to pursue that as a last option.

Will you eradicate corruption?

I'd have to be smoking something to think I can win this. It's a mindset. To root it out doesn't just need the police and prisons, it needs a societal changing of values regarding the treatment of public resources. Remember when this country started a moral regeneration campaign ...

Led by Jacob Zuma?

And Thabo Mbeki knew this man from exile. He knew him. How could he make this man the champion of moral regeneration? So also Thabo Mbeki must take responsibility for this.

But now it's on your desk. You can't carry on blaming the past, can you?

Is laying criminal charges against Ntlemeza for interfering with my cases worrying about the past?

story_article_right2

Why is the city still losing as much as 31% of its water through leaks?

Because of ageing infrastructure. The City of Johannesburg has only been spending under 2% on repairs and maintenance. Treasury expects it to be roughly 10% of your budget. That is why I need to increase the revenue stream. As a municipality 80% of the revenue to service the residents I have to generate myself.

That is why collecting more money is one of my priorities.

Are you blaming too much on your predecessor?

No, I'm just giving the real state of the city.

The auditor-general gave Johannesburg an unqualified audit opinion for the third consecutive year in 2014-15. Doesn't that suggest things were improving under the ANC council?

What does the AG say about unauthorised, irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure? R5.3-billion over the last five years.

Why still so many power outages?

As I said, the infrastructure backlog is R170-billion. Just the electricity backlog alone in the city of Johannesburg is R69-billion. There are substations that have not been serviced since they were put in 30 or 40 years ago to service small suburbs, and now they're servicing suburbs eight or 10 times bigger. So I'm sitting with this problem. We need to upgrade our infrastructure. The ANC has been spending less than 2% on maintenance. You need 10% just to be able to keep up.

Has the influx of undocumented immigrants into the city slowed down?

The city attracts more than 3000 people every month. The open borders are a huge challenge. Malusi Gigaba attacked me for being xenophobic, but did nothing to help. Now we've got a new minister of home affairs appointed in the middle of the night. Two weeks ago I wrote her a letter and said please can we get together because the City of Johannesburg cannot continue like this. I've not even had an acknowledgment.