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No skills audit for Ekurhuleni

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Mzwandile Masina
Mzwandile Masina

Smiling portraits of the late ANC stalwart Oliver Tambo decorate the passage that leads to the Germiston office of newly elected Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina.

The municipality, which was previously led by 59-year-old Mondli Gungubele, remains the only ANC controlled metro council in Gauteng.

This after the ANC failed to get an outright majority in the municipal elections – resulting in its leaders scrambling for coalition governments with smaller parties.

It’s Masina’s first day at work. He arrives hours late to a contingent of journalists waiting in line for scheduled appointments.

He sits down comfortably on his leather couch as if he has been here all along. He had an early start to the day, doing damage control regarding an interview that had him trending on social media.

There is no doubt that the former deputy minister of trade and industry’s term as mayor has gotten off to a shaky start, and he’s been accused of being arrogant.

He used his inaugural speech last week to slam residents of Johannesburg, Tshwane and Nelson Mandela Bay for not voting for the ANC.

“Yes, we can’t pretend everything is fine, everything is not fine,” he laments.

This sentiment is possibly what led to his explosive statements that he would never have predicted that the people of Tshwane would shame ANC struggle hero Solomon Mahlangu, who was hanged for murder in 1979; the people of Nelson Mandela Bay would easily forget about who abducted and killed anti-apartheid activists, the so-called Pebco Three; and Sowetans would have reduced the ANC to a shadow of its former self on the 40th anniversary of the Soweto uprisings.

Masina (41) claims he was misunderstood.

“If you have got a problem with me, then you will find it offensive. If I say, ‘Mzwandile, you didn’t wash today’, and if I haven’t washed, why feel offended?

“People say we must do self introspection, but when we do, people say we are arrogant. It just doesn’t reconcile,” he said.

Besides having to set the record straight on his first day, Masina also met the political management team, which includes the newly elected council speaker and chief whip.

Later, he met the outgoing city manager, the chief operating officer and the chief financial officer to receive “high-level briefings” on issues that need urgent attention. It is during these meetings that he shared his vision for the municipality.

Unlike other metros where the DA is taking over, Masina will not subject workers to skills audits.

Masina said the metro’s employees will not be asked if they are corrupt or not. He added that everyone is seen as capable because the city received positive credit ratings.

People with valid contracts and those delivering services will not be purged. If there are people who want to leave, he will replace them.

Masina brushed off questions around the departure of city manager Khaya Ngema, an issue that has raised speculation about the potential discomfort that could arise from their working together. “My understanding is that his term has ended.”

The newly elected mayor is indifferent to leaving his post as the deputy minister of trade and industry. He tendered his resignation a day before his election as mayor. Shrugging his shoulders, he says that position was “not mine, but the ANC’s”.

Masina says he intends to include young people in his administration. He supports the ANC Youth League’s call for the ANC to do away with the old guard and bring in a crop of younger leaders.

“Demographics in South Africa suggest that young people are in the majority, so we have got to respond to the current realities.

“We will get as many young people as we can to come into the system so that they can learn.”

He is, after all, 18 years younger than Gungubele.

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