LETTER: Only a stable coalition of mature, co-operative parties will save Johannesburg

Angela Rivers reports the dire state of Johannesburg’s service delivery and maladministration in a damning article against the governors of the city ("Where to with a broken city?” October 6). Years of coalition rule could have solved many of the city’s problems, but infighting and politicking torpedoed any possibility of a stable administration.

The possible appointment of Johann Mettler earlier this year as city manager could also have helped solve many issues. But political vendettas and corruption won out. Rather than the appointment of an experienced and proven city manager, Johannesburg was faced with more infighting as ActionSA chose to support Floyd Brink, an EFF-backed candidate with ties to major corruption scandals.

The city has existed without a permanent city manager since then, without any semblance of a stable administration. This is not what the city or its residents need. Now, with the ousting of DA mayor Mpho Phalatse, the city has been plunged into even more instability — and handed back to the very party that destroyed it in the first place.

I sympathise with Rivers and all those who suffer under the decaying political war zone that is Johannesburg. This is not what residents voted for. This is not what residents deserve.

The smaller parties that sabotaged the DA-run coalition need to take a long, hard look at themselves. And their voters must realise that they have been betrayed. When the next election comes we must not make the same mistake. The parties who have kept Johannesburg in this decaying state must pay — and serious, amicable, competent leadership must replace them.

Only a stable coalition of mature, co-operative parties will save Johannesburg. We need to hold the parties preventing this accountable.

Nicholas Woode-Smith

Cape Town

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