We’re prioritising roads, traffic lights used by G20 guests, says Joburg mayor
Joburg mayor Dada Morero is facing backlash over his statement about only fixing roads and traffic lights because of G20 guests.
Johannesburg residents have expressed their disappointment in mayor Dada Morero and called for him to resign after admitting that the municipality will only fix roads and other infrastructure because of G20 guests.
Johannesburg and Tshwane will host the Urban 20 Cycle which includes representatives from countries under the G20, which South Africa is chairing this year.
JOHANNESBURG MAYOR FACES BACKLASH OVER PRIORITISING G20 GUESTS
During a briefing on Monday, 3 March, Morero boldly stated that they are prioritising routes that the G20 representatives will use during their stay in South Africa.
“We are doing our level best, we’ve prioritised certain routes within Johannesburg which are G20 routes, to ensure that at least we can make them the standard that they should be; no potholes, no traffic signals that aren’t working. So, we’re focusing on that,” he said.
Morero’s statement had Joburg residents up in arms saying it [statement] implies that they are only doing so because of the G20 guests.
Johannesburg, especially the inner city, has been in decay for quite some time. Traffic lights in most highways aren’t working, which has resulted in homeless people directing traffic during peak hours. Apart from that, taps have been running dry in most suburbs due to aging infrastructure, theft and vandalism.
Some took to X (formerly Twitter) to weigh in on the Joburg mayor’s statement about prioritising “G20 roads”.
Morne Viljoen wrote “Let me translate: ‘We will bulls***t our international guests to think we’re capable of managing things like roads, water and electricity. We can not be embarrassed by showing them the truth.”
@Sbusiso_Rza said The ANC government must be ashamed of itself.
“What Dada Morero is saying is that if it wasn’t for the G20,the Joburg metropolitan and it’s decaying state was not going to maintained at all? The ANC government has failed our country at large dismally and it’s concerning.”
“I already saw this happening in January, street lights on the M1 being replaced (after years) and traffic lights and streets on main routes being fixed,” @RoelfDiedericks also wrote.
Emman Thompson said if Bree street was part of those routes, it would have been fixed like yesterday.
“Our leaders rather gain from disasters by awarding inflated contracts.”
BREE STREET YET TO BE FIXED
Meanwhile, Lillian Ngoyi (Bree Street) in the Johannesburg CBD is yet to be fixed following a gas explosion over 20 months ago.
The blast, which occurred in July 2023, was caused by an explosion to the underground pipes, damaging buildings and around 30 vehicles, and by luck no fatalities.
The City of Johannesburg set aside R198 million to repair the busy street. However, only 15% of the work had been completed and the company contracted for the job had spent only R2.2 million of the allocated budget, EWN reported in February.
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT JOHANNESBURG MAYOR DADA MORERO’S STATEMENT ABOUT PRIORITISING G20 GUESTS OVER RESIDENTS?
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