Johannesburg mayoral candidate promises public repairs dashboard — Daily Maverick

Nobuntu Hlazo-Webster, the Build One South Africa (Bosa) party’s candidate for mayor of Johannesburg in South Africa, said that if elected, she would introduce a public dashboard to track priority repairs to urban infrastructure. She also proposes making officials’ responsibilities public and introducing consequences for failing to do their work.

As Daily Maverick reports, during the campaign the candidate met with residents who have lost faith in politicians and do not expect voting to change their situation. According to her, she is particularly concerned by growing hopelessness among city residents.

Hlazo-Webster urged voters not to regard water supply disruptions as normal. She also cited an example of patients being unable to receive care at a clinic because of a lack of water.

Officials’ accountability

The candidate proposes selecting municipal employees on merit, publicly defining their powers, and holding them accountable for failing to perform their duties. In her first months as mayor, she plans to improve the accuracy of the city’s billing system and disclose information about the city’s debts.

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According to Hlazo-Webster, her work in business and economic development, including advising municipalities on investment and informal trade, has shown her the problem of plans that are not implemented. She believes that the work of authorities should be assessed by improvements in residents’ lives, rather than by the number of formally completed targets.

Changes in city governance

In the longer term, the candidate seeks to return key municipal services to more unified municipal management. In her view, separately managed city entities have created duplicated bureaucracy and dispersed accountability.

Hlazo-Webster also advocates closer cooperation between the city and businesses to attract investment and develop township economies. She noted that businesses will find it difficult to grow amid unreliable electricity and water supplies. The candidate acknowledged that structural changes will take time because of Johannesburg’s strained finances and possible fragmentation of the city council.

She added that coalition agreements should clearly define each partner’s responsibilities and the consequences for failing to meet commitments, rather than being reduced to distributing positions as political rewards.