JOHANNESBURG – PROMINENT businessman, and opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) member, Herman Mashaba (HM) is set for a fierce contest against the African National Congress (ANC).

Gauteng Guardian (GG) News Editor, Simba Rushwaya, spent time with Mashaba at the aspiring public office holder’s plush home in Sandton where he outlined his vision to create jobs and tackle prevailing economic and social challenges afflicting the city’s residents.
GG: Who is Herman Mashaba?

HM: Herman Mashaba is a 56 year-old man, born near Hammanskraal to a mother who was a domestic worker in Johannesburg. I lost my father when I was two years old and I was brought up by a single mother. I grew in the era of apartheid when the country was racially divided and opportunities were limited for black people. I passed my matric and enrolled at the University of the North in 1979 because black people were not allowed at universities such as University of Pretoria.
The second year of my studies, the university was shut down because of politics. I briefly worked in the industry after finished studies, but decided to be independent in 1982 when, after saving money, I sold some products that I later produced after building an industry in Pretoria.
I got the money which I used to build my industry from a businessman called Walter Dube, who bought my idea. Since then, I have never looked back and employed hundreds, but I have since sold shares of my business. I’m happily married to Connie and we have two children, daughter Khensani and son Rhulani. My wife now runs the businesses while I concentrate on politics.

GG: What inspires your ambition to become Mayor of Johannesburg?

HM: Lack of jobs. The greatest hallmark of my administration will be to create jobs because Johannesburg at the moment is really facing jobs bloodbath. We are sitting with 870 000 of our fellow residents out of work, 66 000 of them in the first quarter. Basically, when one looks at these figures, the city is losing about 750 jobs daily. This is scary. These are men and women who are supposed to take care of themselves and their families. I want to drive the economy and that’s when one create a prosperous nation and give people dignity.

GG: What do you think is causing this unemployment?

HM: A lack of leadership in our country; leadership that is committed to public service. Unfortunately, the ANC administration is fraught with corruption. I don’t think they have commitment to serve the people. I have a sense these people wake up every day to go and loot our resources. Whereas in my particular situation, I left my business overnight last year to pursue politics after President Jacob Zuma fired Finance Minister Nhlanhla Musa Nene. Obviously, after many years of concern, the firing of Nene made it impossible for me to stand on the sidelines and be an armchair critic. I decided enough is enough, I’m not going to run away from this country, and I made myself available to the DA.

GG: Why the DA?

HM: Because it has been the party that I have been voting for the past few years. I voted for the ANC in 1994 and 1999. I discovered that the ANC was no longer the same party that I wanted during former President Thabo Mbeki’s second term. I then switched to the DA.

GG: How are you going to create employment?

HM: The average African economy has been growing at a rate of 6 percent per year. If you look at non-performance of our economy and inability to create jobs, it is a result of lack of leadership and commitment to public service. These are self-inflicted challenges. The first thing I will do is to professionalise the civil service. I will make sure everything we do as a city focuses on job creation. We will invite investors in our city. We will audit all the positions in the city and ensure employees are productive in their jobs.
Secondly, I will make sure we invest in infrastructure. We need to invest in roads and more water reservoirs and invest in our settlements. There are settlements that I visit with no proper roads. Some do not have addresses 22 years after attaining independence. People are living with no dignity. The government must make sure the people have dignity. Thirdly, I will encourage entrepreneurship and reward it through incentives. We will also help those who are already in business to go to another level. We will dissect the tenders into small pieces to allow many players and thereby creating employment.
We will run the tender process in a manner that is transparent as possible so that the person who wins must be someone who should be able to deliver. The public must be made aware how they won the tender. The tenders must not be given to a friend, family or party supporter. At the moment tenders, are won by cronies. There will be no such in my administration. Some properties in the City of Johannesburg central business district are decaying. We need to revive those. Some of the buildings have been taken over by drug lords and criminal syndicates. We need to remove those people and renovate the buildings so that proper business takes place in those buildings. We can convert some of them into low cost housing, working in partnership with private players.
The beauty of the construction industry is that you immediately create employment and provide for artisans to exercise their skills. Lastly, we will have to fight corruption and wasteful expenditure. If you look at the City of Joburg, the Auditor-General pointed out that R5,3 billion has been wasteful expenditure since 2011. When I take over, corruption will be declared public enemy number one and we will speed the prosecution of corrupt people. Criminals will be dealt with harshly. I will also make sure people get houses and receive title deeds.

GG: Some people in South Africa think the DA is a party that represents the interests of the white minority, that you are a white man in a black skin?

HM: I was not going to going to respond to that but what I can tell you is that the DA is a non-racial party. The DA represents the rainbow nation that the founding father Nelson Mandela envisaged. No political party in this country can compete with us interms of diversity. The DA is not a white party, neither is it a black party. Anyone who wants anything to do with racism must not come to DA. We don’t want racists in our party.

GG: You mentioned druglords. Youth are engaged in drugs and can be seen openly consuming substances. How are you going to address the issue of drugs in the city?

HM: It’s an interesting question because we had a big march with (Party Leader) Mmusi Maimane over the issue (his face frowns). I’m sending a warning to the drug dealers that this city will become too small for them once I get into power. I’m going to create a special unit within the JMPD (Joburg Metropolitan Police Department that will deal specifically on drugs.
Drug lords will have to go out or they will go to ANC administered municipalities. Drugs, unfortunately destroy our families and the community. I’m going to make life difficult for those (drug lords).The problem is that our youths are idle and they become easy targets for drug abuse.We will make sure we invest in infrastructure especially recreational facilities for our communities, starting from football, rugby, and tennis among others. Our townships must produce swimmers, boxers, soccer stars and tennis greats. We need to take our youths away from idleness.

– Guardian