Dumêlang, goeie more, good morning,
As a son of Atteridgeville, I come from humble beginnings – growing up in a shack, I know what struggle is all about.
No one in my family had a degree – no one believed anyone in my family would ever get a decent education.
But I had a dream of a better future for myself and my family.
I walked kilometers to school every day and worked at a local spaza shop pouring paraffin into bottles, and packing chips, to scrape together a few Rands to keep my family going.
When I qualified to go to university, I worked as a waiter – some days even walking from Mamelodi to Lynwood just to get to work when I had no cash for transport. I would get home late at night to study for exams the next day.
It was hard, and I won’t lie, there were many days where I wanted to give up, but these experiences are what inspire me now that I am the Mayor of Tshwane. As a child roaming the dusty streets, no one believed they would ever see me in this position, but through hard work and sheer determination, here I am – with my every waking moment dedicated to creating a better life for the people of Tshwane, my people.
When I first took office, I was sick. Sickened by the waste that I saw. The people’s money, our money, had been wasted buying fancy cars, expensive flights and on salaries for hundreds of ANC branch members who did nothing to improve their lives. My first commitment was to put a stop to all this, and sell the mayoral mansion, using the money to build homes for the poor.
Every person deserves the dignity of a job and a home they can call their own. And so I set out to create 23 000 new job opportunities for residents, and speed up title deed delivery – giving residents ownership of a property that can be passed on to their children, and a real chance to be part of the economy.
I was motivated to keep going, when Salome Vivian from Winterveld told me that her community fought for over 24 years to receive their title deeds. But that “to God’s glory their leaders started to pursue and communicate with the new DA MMC of housing, and within 8 months they had their title deeds.”
I have also been inspired by a young man from Soshanguve – he lost both parents at a young age and had to become a taxi driver to survive. But a few months ago he qualified as a civil engineer. That is what makes us as South Africans so special – the sheer determination we have to overcome any obstacle in our way.
But I also believe we have a duty to give a hand up to every person who needs it, which is why I have created an Informal Trader Bursary Fund to help informal traders get the education they need to survive against poverty and joblessness. And I am proud to say we have just sent the first beneficiaries to tertiary education.
Many people are not as lucky as my friend from Soshanguve though. Too many of our people succumb to drugs and crime, as they see no way out of the hopeless situation they find themselves in. Through my Operation Tswelopele, I have declared a war on drugs. I have setup a City-funded programme to helps addicts overcome addiction, and face their social and psychological challenges – with the aim of helping them find work too. About 2 500 people have been helped so far, with many more to come.
And because I know first-hand what it means to struggle, I have written off almost R400 million in debt for poor residents who couldn’t afford to pay their municipal bills, all the while making sure that those who can pay, do pay.
After inheriting R2 billion in debt, we have turned around City finances to end the last financial year with over R700 million in the bank and an unqualified audit.
We have much more to do before we can say we have truly turned around the lives of our people. But I can assure you, just as I fought to overcome my life of poverty as a young man, so too will I fight with the same determination to give opportunities to every – single – resident of our City.
This is just the beginning for the people of Tshwane, and for all Gauteng residents.
Next year, we will bring total change to the whole province!
Amandla!