Mayor Masina will take from the rich to build his metro
NEWLY elected Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina is planning to spend a big chunk of the metro’s R34-billion budget on a “massive infrastructure” project that will bring electricity to the city’s 119 informal settlements and build 100 000 new houses.
Masina, who took office this week, said his city would resemble “a construction site” in the next five years as he rolled out a “pro-poor” programme.
This would include 59 000 serviced housing stands with tarred roads and basic services such as potable water and proper sanitation, which would be allocated to residents who earned too little to qualify for a mortgage but too much to qualify for an RDP house.
Speaking to the Sunday Times at his mayoral office in Germiston, Masina said he aimed to take from Ekurhuleni’s rich and give to its poor citizens as part of plans to close the social inequality gap in Gauteng’s industrial hub.
“We want to turn the city into a construction site . . . the essence of what we want to do is to consolidate our pro-poor programme while we maintain the standards in suburbs because in the suburbs, they are not looking for an RDP house.
“For example, they look for ‘cut our grass, deal with the potholes, fix the robots’ et cetera. So we’ll do those things.
“But our intention is to spend money in the poorer communities because if we want to create an equal society, it’s very important that we start with the basics. So our programme is purely pro-poor,” he said.
Masina is also planning a pilot project to test the feasibility of having 24-hour clinics in all Ekurhuleni’s townships. “During the campaign, our people pointed out that they do not get sick only at specific hours of the day.”
Masina said he would fast-track the construction of the bus rapid transit system that began in Tembisa, Ekurhuleni’s biggest township, in 2014. It was supposed to have been operational by the end of March but is nowhere near complete.
“There’s progress [but] it’s slow. We’ll have to go there and see what can be done to make things quick.”
Some on social media this week accused Masina of being arrogant and undermining those who chose not to vote for the ANC.
On Tuesday in his acceptance speech he said voters in Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay had “short memories” and had “forgotten who had killed [anti-apartheid activist] Solomon Mahlangu”.
In the interview, Masina insisted that he was not arrogant and said he did not regret his remarks.
“If there’s anybody who feels undermined, I don’t know, because there are people in those areas who voted ANC.
“I am a politician. I’ve operated in the national space, in the international space, so I can’t be limited how I must think in order for me to convey messages.”
We want to turn Ekurhuleni into a construction site . . . the essence of what we want to do is to consolidate our pro-poor programme