Tshwane will no longer host the numerous festivities and parties which cost taxpayers millions of rand annually if Democratic Alliance (DA) mayoral candidate Solly Msimanga gets his way.
“If I’m elected, one of the things I want to do is ensure there is a mayoral scholarship we establish. We are not going to have parties in Tshwane. That is one of the things. There will no longer be inauguration parties, April 27 parties or May 1 rallies,” Msimanga told Tshwane University of Technology students on Friday.
“We are not going to do that. We will take that money and put it into a fund. That is the only way we are going to break the legacy of apartheid. When we empower the people coming from that disadvantaged era they have to be upskilled and get absorbed into the job market so they can work for their families.”
Msimanga said, among his many other initiatives, he would establish a database of all students learning or living within the Tshwane metro.
He told the students that some ambassadors had informed him that some foreign companies did not want to invest in Tshwane because of rampant corruption.
“They [ambassadors] were telling me that they have people that want to come and engage South Africa, particularly Tshwane, but they are not doing that. The companies are saying ‘if I have to be paying bribes then I’m not interested’,” said Msimanga.
He said security concerns among students topped his agenda.
“I don’t want the metro police doing fundraising. You often find them standing in bushes, stopping taxis and buses. I want a metro police force that will be able to patrol the vicinity of campuses. I want them to patrol where you are staying, playing sport and having fun. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard of students who have been robbed of their laptops, iPads, cellphones and shoes.”
Msimanga said young people told him “they are tired of Sputla’s [Tshwane mayor Kgosientso Ramokgopa’s nickname] government of lies”.
The DA hopes to oust the ANC in Tshwane in the tightly-contested August 3 local government elections. – African News Agency (ANA)