Newly elected Johannesburg
mayor, Herman Mashaba,
who is the founder of a successful
brand of beauty products (Black
Like Me), said he planned to run
Johannesburg like a business.
“Politics and business are the
same thing. Politics is about
serving society and business is
part and parcel of that. The
city needs to collect money
in order to execute and
provide services. That
is very important.
The city needs
to have the
capacity and brain power to collect
the money, and the city, once it
has collected this money, has the
responsibility to use this money
efficiently, get value for it.”
Mashaba has also prioritised
easing traffic congestion which
he believes restricts business in
general. He told FTW that this
was why he had introduced a new
member of the newly appointed
10-member mayoral committee for
environment and infrastructure,
Anthony William Still.
“Officials in charge of city
infrastructure will be told to
consult with our colleagues in Cape
Town so that they can give us some
notes in terms of addressing road
and traffic infrastructure that is
impeding the economy by holding
up traffic and causing congestion,”
he said. This includes addressing
the number of traffic lights that
are out in the city as a “matter of
priority”.
When he was sworn into office,
Mashaba noted that he would focus
on helping the private sector create
jobs, ensuring prudent municipal
spending and fighting corruption.
CAPTION: Mayor Herman Mashaba
