ANC using Winnie’s name to distract from service delivery failures

If ANC policy was consistent, the party wouldn’t rename William Nicol Drive after Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. They’d find a side street and rebrand it Winnie Step-Aside Street.

How would Winnie have fared under the ANC rule which says members who have been charged with corruption or other serious crimes must step aside within 30 days?

Winnie was convicted of fraud and kidnapping, which surely count as “corruption or other serious crimes”.

WATCH: ANC lobbies to support renaming of William Nicol Drive

A high-profile test of the ANC step-aside rule is secretary-general Ace Magashule, whose 30- day deadline almost coincides with the cut-off for public comment on Joburg’s plans to rename William Nicol.

Yet Magashule will not step aside and ANC-governed Joburg will brush aside public comment on the renaming. The ANC mocks public participation.

On Monday, deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte and mayoral committee member Loyiso Masuku (fresh from suspension amid Covid-19 protective equipment allegations) led a small group in a choreographed photoshoot.

This was posted on Twitter “to create awareness of the city’s ongoing process of renaming” William Nicol. Neither the October 2018 city council motion on renaming, nor Monday’s publicity stunt begin to satisfy the city’s road renaming policy.

As a ward councillor I expect the city’s policy to be complied with in all respects. This includes at least one public meeting – virtual or hybrid – where concerns are considered.

Duarte’s roadside gaggle cannot count as a public meeting of interested and affected parties. Thousands have signed petitions against the renaming. Many objectors cite costs. But the free-spending ANC doesn’t give a toss about expense.

Indeed, Joburg council has no idea how much the proposed renaming will cost. This emerged from written answers tabled last week to questions I asked of community development MMC Margaret Arnolds.

I wrote: “Does the City of Johannesburg have written estimates of all the costs involved in the proposed renaming of William Nicol Drive, including costs to the city, the province, and the private sector?”

In response, Arnolds wrote: “The Heritage Unit has been engaging with JRA (Joburg Roads Agency) to submit costing for renaming of William Nicol Drive to Winnie Madikizela. Cost will be communicated once received from JRA.”

Follow-on questions elicited no figures. Street name change costs include: signage and installation; business stationery such as websites, letterheads, business cards and other corporate identity costs; and changes to maps and physical direction guides for new names.

Advertisements necessary to give notice of new addresses must also be paid for, along with title deed registrations for new addresses.

As this week’s capex and operational budgets showed – and as is obvious if you look around – council doesn’t have the money to fix Joburg.

Instead, the ANC is banking Winnie’s name as an emotive distraction from service delivery failures.

Put aside this renaming folly. Spend money on helping the poor, rather than beguiling them with road signs. You can’t eat a road sign.

And using it for shelter is not cost-effective. Shoddy governance cannot be sidestepped with trickery.