Mashaba bows out, says Johannesburg is in a better financial position

Herman Mashaba served his last day as Mayor of the City of Johannesburg on Wednesday perusing his ‘end of term’ report, giving media interviews, saying farewell to colleagues and politely accepting impromptu selfie requests from city workers sad to see him go.

Love him or hate him, the charismatic Black Like Me hair and beauty entrepreneur-turned-politician made his mark as mayor of SA’s largest metropolis despite holding the post for just three years. Mashaba cut short his five-year term, announcing his decision to resign as mayor and as a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA) last month, after expressing disillusionment with party.

Watch: Mashaba’s reflections on running SA’s biggest metro 

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His resignation, which was followed by Mmusi Maimane’s resignation as DA leader, came in the wake of Helen Zille’s election as the party’s federal council chairperson.

Read: DA leader Mmusi Maimane resigns

Johannesburg residents should know who their new ‘coalition mayor’ is this week, with a council vote set to take place on Thursday.

Speaking to Moneyweb at the mayor’s office, in the landmark City of Joburg headquarters in Braamfontein on his last day in office, Mashaba said he has no regrets about taking the hot seat as mayor in 2016 or his resignation from the position and the DA.

“I am grateful to the residents of Joburg and the multi-party coalition that allowed me to lead the city as mayor for the last three years.

“While it has been a punishing job, it has also been rewarding for me. There are still huge challenges for the city to overcome, but I believe we have created some positive momentum. The city is in a better financial position today and is attracting massive investment, even with SA’s tough economic environment.”

Listen to Moneyweb Editor Ryk van Niekerk’s April 24 interview with Mashaba about his multibillion-rand investment plan for the Joburg CBD (or read the transcript here):

While ANC politicians in the municipality have often questioned Joburg’s financial position under Mashaba, he says this was mainly politicking. “From the start the ANC has been trying to collapse council and council meetings as a political ploy. However, this delayed important resolutions and ultimately also had negative implications for faster service delivery.”

He says the city’s current financial position speaks for itself. “We would not have received positive reports from the National Treasury in terms of revenue collection and from rating agency Moody’s, which recently confirmed the city’s stronger financials.”

Earlier in November Moody’s Investors Service affirmed the city’s credit rating and maintained its outlook. Mashaba notes that the city’s rating outlook could have improved had it not been for Moody’s recently changing the country’s outlook from stable to negative.

In its latest rating for the City of Joburg, Moody’s acknowledged “a significant increase in operating revenue, resulting in a substantial improvement in the city’s liquidity position”.

The city’s closing cash balance increased from R2.2 billion at end of 2017/18, to R5.3 billion by close of 2018/19.

In a November 8 statement following Moody’s announcement, the city said: “It is deeply disappointing that despite Moody’s noting that the ‘City’s strong administration has managed to implement prudent financial practices over the years’, it was unable to improve the city’s outlook as a result of the change to the national outlook.”

The DA has nominated the city’s finance MMC Funzi Ngobeni as its candidate for mayor, but the ANC is yet to officially confirm its candidate. While Ngobeni has expressed confidence that he will retain the post for the DA in the city, the ANC is reportedly looking to secure a coalition with the IFP and other opposition parties in its efforts to win back Johannesburg.

Read: DA meltdown puts South Africa’s key cities in play

Meanwhile, in his Moneyweb interview Mashaba was as forthright as ever regarding his hopes about the city’s future political leadership.

“My appeal to whoever takes over as mayor and to elected politicians in the council is to serve the residents of this city. We can’t have ‘politics of the stomach’ – essentially corrupt politicians regaining a foothold in the council, which will be to the detriment of our citizens.”

Mashaba says he hopes the fight against corruption continues and that the city’s investigations into some R34 billion in corrupt deals under the previous ANC administration sees perpetrators being brought to book. 

“We have referred many of these investigations and cases to the National Prosecuting Authority and the Hawks.”

Listen to Nompu Siziba’s interview with Mashaba on SAfm Market Update with Moneyweb: