Herman Mashaba apologises to woman after blasting her for service delivery complaints

14 October 2019 - 07:48 By Cebelihle Bhengu

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Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba did not take kindly to the woman's criticism.
Image: Simphiwe Nkwali

Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba has apologised to a woman who took to Twitter to complain about the city's failure to replace a piece of broken concrete for “at least two years”.

In the tweet on Friday, the resident said this was symbolic of the municipality's failure to fix the basics.

I drive Jan Smuts daily. This jutting piece of broken concrete, which has remained in its present condition for at least 2 years, seems symbolic of the city, and Its inability to fix the basics. @CityofJoburgZA @Our_DA pic.twitter.com/21E9wabk9V
— Giulietta Talevi (@GTalevi) October 11, 2019

Mashaba did not take kindly to the complaint and accused the resident of being “an opponent” of the “multi party government” in the city.

Some of beneficiaries of the past evil Apartheid system have to decided become opponents of our Multi Party government in @CityofJoburgZA https://t.co/UtYBwUNIs3
— Herman Mashaba (@HermanMashaba) October 11, 2019

This did not sit well with tweeps, who told Mashaba to stop making excuses and attend to the complaint.

“No Hon. Mayor I disagree with you on this one, surely that area should be fixed, that card you pulled doesn't work,” said one.

It’s a complaint, not an attempt by @GTalevi to topple the local government. And dismissing her complaint because you deem her a “beneficiary of apartheid” is the basest kind of racial pandering. Should all our public reps respond to complaints and criticisms in the same way?
— Michael Cardo (@michaelcardo) October 12, 2019

Oh wow 😮... @GTalevi is a Joburg resident pointing out longstanding broken areas that her rates should be spent fixing
— Karin Morrow (@rinmor) October 12, 2019

As a public servant and representative of @Our_DA, I expected your response to be: "Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We will escalate your complaint to the department responsible."
— dorothy o'neill (@dorothyoneill1) October 12, 2019

Mashaba quickly apologised, blaming his reaction on “unfair criticism” he said he often received from the city's residents. He also admitted that two years was a long time to wait for the city to react to service delivery issues.

Thank you @GTalevi for accepting my apology. It’s a tough job, but I do it in the hope of making a difference in our residents’ lives. @MyJRA has attended to the issue you raised; thanks for bringing it to my attention. https://t.co/MEnaItmE5w pic.twitter.com/igQidgFxgD
— Herman Mashaba (@HermanMashaba) October 12, 2019