Mashaba’s manifesto

‘WE NEED TO ENSURE WE BRING LAW AND ORDER TO THE CITY’ He wants to build city step by step into something residents will be proud of.

The Democratic Alliance’s new City of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba has vowed to restore law and order in the crime-ridden Joburg CBD. “We need to restore the basic rule of law in the city,” Mashaba told the Saturday Citizen yesterday.

“We cannot allow the city to collapse. We need to ensure that we bring law and order to the city.”

Yesterday, Mashaba announced his mayoral committee, which includes two members of the Inkatha Freedom Party, which gave votes to his party to unseat the ANC in the country’s largest metro.

Mashaba defended his choice of members of the mayoral committee (MMC), saying they are not his friends.

“The people you see here with me are not here because they are my close friends, Mashaba said in Johannesburg.

“This is not any form of payback or cadre deployment. These were chosen very carefully.

“The main consideration was their ability to deliver and their willingness to serve the people of Johannesburg, especially the underprivileged.”

The committee is made up of doctors, a professor and a community development activist, among others.

“If I wish to have a professional civil service I need to start by setting an example with the appointment of MMCs,” Mashaba said.

“It also brings a great joy to appoint such a diverse team of councillors in both race and gender.”

The DA was blasted for its mostly white and male executive in Tshwane this week.

Mashaba said it is going to take time to correct years of mismanagement and delays in the city.

“We need to start from scratch and step by step build a

We need to start from scratch and step by step build a city that we can all be proud of.

city that we can all be proud of,” Mashaba said.

“Together we need to bring change in Johannesburg.”

He added: “The people of Johannesburg expect us to bring about the change we promised them during the last seven months of campaigning.”

Asked what he is promising Johannesburg residents in his first few days in office, Mashaba replied: “Before I make any real commitment, give me time to understand the finances of the city and get projects under way.”

Herman Mashaba City of Johannesburg mayor

Picture: Neil McCartney TAKING THE OATH. Newly elected mayor of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba, is sworn in by Judge President Dunstan Mlambo during an event at the Joburg Theatre in Braamfontein yesterday, in which he and his MMCs were sworn into office.