Mayor sacked able man

ANTHONY Still is the first political casualty of Herman Mashaba’s tenure as mayor of the City of Johannesburg. The question is why?

Still was an ideal choice for inclusion in Mashaba’s mayoral committee. He is well qualified; has extensive practical experience of Johannesburg and its infrastructure and understands the legal framework for both local government and industrial relations.

For most of us as citizens of Joburg, the complexities of how local government is structured is of little interest. But Mashaba has decided otherwise and we as citizens should be aware of the importance of the changes he intends to implement.

Mashaba wants to get rid of the municipal-owned entities (MoEs), which provide the majority of services in Johannesburg. Mashaba’s publicly stated reason is cost saving. However, when the ANC first introduced the idea of MoEs there was a general agreement of potential benefits, including from the DA. It was believed the introduction of MoEs would improve governance; reduce the possibility of political interference, and associated nepotism and corruption.

Regrettably, Mashaba wants to interfere with the basic principles that are internationally accepted for good governance. To do this he will need to ignore the necessary separation of responsibilities that exist in any well-run business and also ignore the associated legal framework.

Mashaba has already overstepped the mark in a number of ways, by interfering with a senior appointment at Pikitup and his recent potentially illegal and costly intervention in City Power.

The sacking of Still is an indication of a mayor who talks about good governance and upholding the law but in reality is undermining them. Observatory, Johannesburg