JOHN DLUDLU: Herman Mashaba’s Alexandra blunder hurts DA’s provincial campaign
Johannesburg mayor’s failure to meet residents of the township over poor service delivery concerns magnifies the party’s broader shambles
The DA is its own worst enemy. By refusing to listen to the grievances of Alexandra residents, Johannesburg executive mayor Herman Mashaba has handed the ANC a major tactical victory ahead of May’s election. And on Thursday ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa will rub salt into the political wound when he visits the township. Up to now businessman-turned-politician Mashaba has refused to meet residents who are protesting against poor service delivery. Last week, at the height of protests, he chose to call a radio station, telling talk-show host Eusebius McKaiser how busy he is as mayor of 5-million residents, and he would only attend to their complaints on April 15. If that wasn’t enough, his boss Mmusi Maimane was campaigning at Noord taxi rank with Solly Msimanga, the DA’s premier candidate for Gauteng. Instead of taking a taxi to Alexandra to listen to the residents, Maimane chose to continue peddling the DA’s stale narrative blaming the ANC, which lost control of the city in the 20...
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