EDITORIAL: Moral pothole hazard
Mayor Geoff Makhubo seems to believe it’s fine to outsource his responsibilities while absolving his office of blame for the decay in infrastructure
And so, just like that, Joburg’s thousands of potholes will finally be repaired, courtesy of Discovery Insure and Dialdirect.This partnership with the City of Joburg is both a welcome salve for motorists, who spend their days dodging tyre-shredding hazards, and an utter indictment of the municipality. The moral hazard implicit in this partnership is that the city is abandoning its constitutional duties — for which it is paid from residents’ after-tax income, after all.Yet mayor Geoff Makhubo seems to believe it’s fine to outsource his responsibilities while absolving his office of blame for the decay in infrastructure.Makhubo’s argument that the backlog of repairs was "created over time through various reasons including an increase in road traffic and worsening weather conditions" tells you a lot about his view of accountability. Makhubo has to acknowledge the city’s role in letting it get to this point. Meanwhile, if the rest of the government were to follow this example, and outso...
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