Quit playing games with our hearts, politicians, and get serious
The city of Johannesburg at sunrise, of which Kabelo Gwamanda is now mayor of.
It would have been hilarious is the results were not so tragic.
Last Sunday night, Carte Blanche ran a story about the new mayor of Johannesburg. Kabelo Gwamanda is the sixth mayor of the city of Johannesburg in 22 months. He is a first-time councilor and a member of the Al Jama-ah party, which only got 1% in the local government elections in Johannesburg.
Mayor Gwamanda won the election after the EFF and ANC struck a deal – which amounted to working together but agreeing that neither of them would get the position of mayor. Thus Mr. Gwamanda got it.
It didn’t take long for rumours to start flying about an insurance scam, which some community women accused the new mayor of running a few years ago. This was the reason for the Carte Blanche investigation.
The mayor didn’t want to comment on the allegations. Apparently, he was busy settling into his new role. No big surprise there. These gold chains take a while to get used to. However, the Al Jama-ah party was very happy to comment. Ganief Hendricks, the party leader said the allegations were false and had no merit. No surprise there either.
However, he then went on to say: “We did our vetting. We even spoke to his mother about whether he would be a good candidate.”
At this point I nearly choked on the apple I was eating. “He didn’t just say ‘his mother’ did he?” I wondered aloud.
But oh yes, my dear readers, he did.
The interviewer interrupted him to put the same question: “Did you say his mother?” she asked. “With all due respect what kind of a vetting process is this?”
Ganief Hendricks expression was priceless. He stopped mid-sentence and his self-satisfying smile turned into an expression of disbelief, presumably that the interviewer couldn’t see the wisdom of his actions.
He tried to explain that Al Jama-ah did not have the resources that other parties have to vet candidates and went on to say: “On the day of the (mayoral) election I sat next to his mother and asked her, ‘tell me about your son, just so that I can have peace of mind that we are dealing with someone who was respected by his parents, his neighbours, by his peers and his colleagues.’”
At this point my jaw nearly hit the ground.
Yet, it was still not the end of it. Hendricks went on to say: “A CV for me doesn’t count much. I don’t attach a lot of significance to a CV. I attach a lot of significance to the interview I conduct with a person. I have the expertise to identify a good man, a champion, a leader and a person who can be a mayor. When I spoke to his mum, she said when he was young, he asked all the difficult questions.”
It is not often that I’m at a loss for words, but this interview and the fact that Hendricks clearly did not understand how problematic his words were, left me flabbergasted.
How can you seriously suggest that there is nothing wrong with the mayor of South Africa’s biggest metropole being vetted by his mother??? Or that a man who must manage a R70 billion budget and appoint the major committee members, got the position on the back of his mother saying that he asked a lot of questions when he was young?
As a friend of mine commented: “Eish! Why didn’t all the prospective employers who never employed me just go to my mother for a reference? Seriously, I would have been CEO of the company by now.”
It would be really funny if it wasn’t for the disastrous state of affairs in the City of Johannesburg. The potholes, the lack of water and sanitation, the crime, and lawlessness are rampant. It has gotten so bad that it even made the New York Times recently.
Of course, it is quite apparent that none of the political shenanigans in Johannesburg and many of the other metros have anything to do with service delivery. It is all about the ridiculous power battles that are being fought between the political parties. If any of the major parties really cared about service delivery and improving the state of the city or even democracy, this kind of nonsense would never happen.
How the ANC can agree (again!) to a party with only 1% of the vote taking the mayoral position is beyond me.
At the same time the DA is equally to blame. In typical sanctimoniously style, they sank a deal which would have seen the other opposition parties taking control of Johannesburg. Instead, John Steenhuisen - presumably with tannie Helen in the background - insisted that they not only get the mayoral position, but also that Gayton Mackenzie from the Patriotic Alliance publicly distance himself from any cooperation with the ANC. Unsurprisingly, after days of talks the negotiations broke down.
So, the DA is as much responsible as the ANC, EFF and Al Jama-ah party for what is happening and will almost certainly happen in the foreseeable future in Johannesburg. The pathetic excuses they put forward about Mackenzie and the PA should be dismissed with the contempt they deserve.
I’m sick of all these stupid games among the politicians – all of them. Local government is collapsing left right and centre. People are without the most basic of services and even dying of cholera. It is scandalous.
Yet, the parties behave like characters in a soap opera – worse in fact.
As another friend from Johannesburg put it: “These guys are not serious.”