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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Johannesburg welcomes Business Leadership South Africa’s (BLSA) call for the City of Johannesburg to be rescued. This as participants in the Soweto Marathon were forced to run through raw sewerage this weekend.

There is no clearer indication that Johannesburg desperately requires new leadership, than the rather apt comparison to be made between raw sewerage spoiling a marathon, and the current government’s impact on the City.

Johannesburg has become a hotspot for cadre deployment, fruitless and wasteful expenditure and the institutionalised avoidance of accountability. Their failures have been addressed in council to no end, however, the coalition has been able to hide behind thinly veiled attempts to seem busy in front of cameras.

Service delivery in the city has been slipping past the point of no return, and contractors have gone unpaid. It is no wonder that sewerage spills into the streets. The current government continues to prove that they do not care about the residents of Johannesburg.

As more voices from members of civil society joins the call for the dissolution of council, the residents of Johannesburg will soon be able to make a decision. We will table our motion to dissolve council on 17 November 2023, at the programming committee. The Speaker and all political parties will then be able to show the residents whether they are serious about service delivery.

We call on all political parties to join the DA’s call for power to be given back to the residents. Together with the residents, we can save the city and make it the City of Gold once more.

Issued by Cllr Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku - DA Johannesburg Caucus Leader