Mashaba dismisses Mayor Tau’s address as ANC fairy tale
JOHANNESBURG – Mayor repeats same old promises.
Democratic Alliance Mayoral candidate for the City of Johannesburg, Herman Mashaba has dismissed Mayor Parks Tau’s State of the City Address (Soca) as an ANC fairy tale.
Mashaba made the remarks in response to Tau’s Soca on 4 May .
“Today, Mayor Parks Tau’s State of the City Address failed the people of Johannesburg by delivering a State of the City which is like an ANC fairy tale, while Johannesburg remains in a desperate state,” said Mashaba.
“Today shows us that in office, Mayor Parks says one thing but does another.”
Mashaba described the address as ‘a repackaged and reheated serving of previous pledges and failed promises’.
The tough-talking Mashaba maintained that Tau recycled old promises, taking the City back to its past instead of the future, which he said was structured to divert attention away from the harsh reality in the townships.
“Mr Tau missed the opportunity to offer the residents of Johannesburg hope with which to overcome despair. He has demonstrated that, once again, he lacks a strategic vision. Where is the unrelenting drive to stop corruption, create jobs and deliver better services in Mayor Tau?” asked Mashaba in a hard-hitting statement which he released to Fourways Review soon after attending the Soca.
Her lamented the widening gap between the poor and the rich which he said is clear evidence that Tau was failing the underprivileged people,
“Our poor residents remain poor under the ANC, and Parks Tau has no solutions to improve lives. As a baseline, economists agree that the City economy must grow by 5 percent per annum to cut through the widespread conditions that produce widespread poverty and inequality.
“The Mayor failed to announce the simple and straightforward seven bold steps that I held him to, yesterday. Mayor Tau could have taken the bold steps today, but instead he chose to use large words and deliver small offers.”
He lambasted Tau for failing to show how Johannesburg tenders will be carved up into smaller contracts so that small enterprises and small businesses can bid for government work. He urged his supporters to learn from DA-led Cape Town City.
Mashaba said Tau missed an opportunity to give clarity of how all potholes will be repaired on Johannesburg’s ‘broken streets’ within 48 hours of reporting.
