Johannesburg residents should be concerned about whether their local government can deliver under mayor Dada Morero. This was the view of a political analyst in response to the mayor’s controversial proposal to hire foreign nationals in the city’s police force.
Recently-elected mayor Dada Morero sparked fury when he proposed that the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) should hire foreign nationals.
He envisioned the recruits would break the language barrier when arresting offending foreign nationals. However, he was forced to apologise after the comments drew the ire of his own party and the public.
Reacting in an interview with Salaamedia on Tuesday, political analyst Tebogo Khaas said the fiasco indicated there was no sense of leadership in the city.
“It just shows that we should be more concerned in terms of the performance of the mayoral committee itself. It doesn’t appear that they have any plan to deal with the issues that are facing the city at the moment,” he said.
SA’s economic capital is buckling under a range of service delivery issues. Potholes, burst pipes, water outages, electricity outages, broken street lights and faulty robots have become common features of the city of gold.
Additionally, an influx of refugees and job seekers from the rest of the country – and continent – has placed further pressure on the city’s infrastructure. This has fuelled xenophobia in recent years.
Khaas suggested a proposal like Morero’s was insensitive to the conditions of his people. It would, therefore, stoke xenophobic sentiment.
“It is not helpful in the sense that it will heighten the anxiety [of] those who are xenophobic and might very well add fuel towards an already volatile situation insofar as tensions are concerned between locals and foreigners,” he said.
Morero would have done well to learn from the experience of Thapelo Amad, whose time in office was cut short by a reckless utterance on TV. But he nonetheless apologised on Monday, hoping to extinguish the outrage.
“Upon further reflection, I have come to the conclusion that my suggestion was not consistent with the policies of the ANC and policies of the government. I therefore unconditionally withdraw my proposal and apologise for the anxiety it might have caused to the residents of Johannesburg and the people of South Africa as a whole,” Morero said.
Johannesburg needs representatives who will respond to their needs. With the next local government election around two years away, it remains to be seen whether musical chairs or service delivery will win the day.
