Whose Jozi is really pro-poor?

Current mayor Herman Mashaba's or former mayor Parks Tau's?

Parks Tau (left) and Herman Mashaba.

In his state of the city address (Soca) last week, Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba said his administration was unashamedly pro-poor.

That sounds so familiar. We heard it a year ago, when Parks Tau was mayor. Tau’s 2016 Soca was supposedly also pro-poor.

While Tau served for five years, Mashaba has been mayor for less than nine months, so their records cannot be fairly compared. However, we can assess Tau’s claims.

In covering Soca 2016, the ANC Today website praises Tau for “the most inclusive and largest informal settlement upgrade programme in the country: having upgraded nearly 30 000 informal homes over the last five years”.

In fact, Tau was no friend of informal settlements. In two examples – Protea South and Slovo Park – the city failed to comply with court orders about upgrading living conditions. I know this because I attended court proceedings in the Protea South matter, where former DA councillor Maureen Mnisi fought for informal settlers’ rights.

The court ordered Tau’s administration to provide communal water taps within 200 metres of each household; one chemical toilet per household; and high-mast lighting. But Tau’s supposedly pro-poor municipality evaded even this modest obligation.

In Slovo Park, Tau’s supposedly pro-poor municipality was ordered to initiate proceedings to upgrade the informal settlement. I put it to you that such legal contests do not befit a pro-poor administration.

ANC Today carries further praise of Tau’s last Soca: “To respond to the dire needs of the poor of the poorest (sic), the city has designed and deployed a scientifically targeted programme combining food gardens, large scale food empowerment zone farms and a range of initiatives designed to reduce the cost of food locally and make it more available to poor households.”

Not quite true. Tau’s food programme included an expensive scheme to bake bread using mango flour imported from South America. Nothing pro-poor about that. More likely pro-pal.

In his Soca last week, Mashaba said the anti-corruption unit had exposed about R2 billion in fraud and corruption. That figure will be dwarfed as more malfeasance is uncovered.

Corruption is anti-poor because it diverts resources which should be used to improve lives. Putting an end to corruption is thus pro-poor. But Mashaba is doing more than that. For example, he is committing at least 60% of the city’s capital budget to projects in poor communities.

In an adjustment budget, he has already allocated R41 million to electrify informal settlements. R49 million has been allocated to Pikitup for additional shifts focusing on the inner city and informal settlements.

If Tau had been pro-poor, Mashaba would not have inherited a housing backlog of 300 000 units. Mashaba’s team is handing out 3 900 title deeds, and has compiled Johannesburg’s first ever fair housing list, bearing 152 000 names.

Mayors past and present are correct to focus on poverty alleviation. Apart from any potential electoral advantage, the impetus must be social justice, which demands redress for past inequities. That craving cannot be sated with halfbaked mango bread, nor puff-pastry promises.