Msimanga accuses Makhura of making ‘broken promises’ to Gauteng residents

DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga has accused Premier David Makhura of making a “litany of broken promises” to Gauteng residents over the years, saying Makhura is “incapable and not fit to govern”.

Gauteng Sopa 2022

Msimanga on Thursday delivered the DA’s alternative State of the Province Address (Sopa) at the party’s headquarters in Bruma, Johannesburg.

His scathing speech – dubbed as the “real state of the province” by the party – comes ahead of Makhura’s Sopa, scheduled for Monday at the Brixton MultiPurpose Centre in Johannesburg.

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Msimanga said Makhura was only left with two Sopas before his second term in office ends, and he was yet to deliver on his promises related to e-tolls, curbing corruption and introducing lifestyle audits on all government officials, among other issues.

“This litany of broken promises shows that Premier Makhura is incapable and is not fit to govern. He will mark the history of the end of the ANC administration in Gauteng come 2024,” he said.

He said Gauteng residents were tired of the premier’s broken promises, adding the DA had solutions to service delivery, fighting corruption and prioritising economic growth in the province.  

“Premier Makhura is increasingly missing in action which clearly shows that he is buckling under the pressure and can no longer maintain the pretence of good governance in Gauteng,” Msimanga said.

E-tolls

Msimanga said during Makhura’s Sopa in 2019, he had indicated that the e-toll system was not working. He said to date, the premier had not found a solution to scrap the system.

“This clearly shows that Premier Makhura is not a man of his word as he has failed to convince his national counterpart that e-tolls have no future in Gauteng and must be scrapped immediately.”

Corruption 

On graft, Msimanga slated the premier saying corruption was one of the major characteristics that could be used to describe Makhura’s government.

“Like all the promises that he has made, only a handful have materialised. The damning SIU report on PPE corruption has now exposed the rotten corruption within Makhura’s administration.

“Gauteng has the largest amount of money wasted on corruption, all of which happened under Premier Makhura’s watch.”

Msimanga also laid the blame squarely at Makhura’s office for the delay in reopening all the sections of the fire-damaged Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital.

“Lives are at risk as thousands of patients have lost access to specialist services such as heart, cancer, and mental health.

“This government is failing to ensure that this hospital sections reopen but allowed money to be wasted on the AngloGold Ashanti Hospital.”

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Lifestyle audits

According to the DA leader, for years Makhura had said that lifestyle audits would be conducted on all government officials, but this had not happened.

“Under his watch, corruption has festered and has now turned into a cancerous blight on the province that is seemingly very difficult to get rid of because the political will does not exist to do so.”

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

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