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EFF Joburg condemns the violence orchestrated by ANC tenderpreneures today using credulous workers who have lost all livelihood as a result of the DA’s recklessness in cancelling Jozi@Work without due consideration. In our view both the ANC and the DA are responsible for the anarchy that played itself out at the Civic Centre in Braamfontein where workers were used as pawns in a childish political spectacle.

It is common knowledge that Jozi@Work is a vehicle used by the ANC for corrupt purposes. It was conceptualized around raising funds for the ANC election machinery and used as a conduit to dispense patronage benefiting its elections volunteers. Jozi@Work is a corrupt consortium owned by ANC Joburg tenderpreneures, its major beneficiary is the ANC itself to which some of the profit is donated to and only employs ANC branch volunteers. Having said that and agreeing with the Mayor in his analysis and resolve that indeed here we are dealing with a corrupt project, EFF Joburg however doesn’t agree with his reckless and typically white liberal approach towards Jozi@Work workers. In addressing the ANC’s historical flaws and its inherent corruption, workers welfare should be protected and prioritized. All efforts should be employed to save jobs of workers and improve the quality of resident’s lives in whatever we do.

The Mayor can’t continue governing the City like his private living room; he can’t switch things on and off as he wishes like his living room light bulb. In our view it is because of his very erratic approach to governance that we had what we had this afternoon at the Civic Centre. Our position, which we had publicly communicated to him last year when he out of excitement flirted with the idea of privatizing Pikitup is clear. The City of Johannesburg must insource all privatized entities and projects like Jozi@Work, cut off the parasitic tenderpreneures and absorb workers. Despite this clear message we have communicated to him, he chooses to throw the baby out with the bathwater in dealing with corruption.

EFF as a vanguard of the community and leader of society calls on the Mayor of Johannesburg to absorb all employees of Jozi@Work to the City with immediate effect and work on a roadmap to further insource all outsourced functions of the City from electricity provision, to water, grass cutting to traffic lights maintenance, from security to cleaners in his office. We further call on the employees of Jozi@Work to reflect on this predicament. While we in principle sympathize with their cause despite them being members of the kleptocratic opposition, we also condemn this ill-conceived vigilantism and call on sanity to prevail. We have meet with the workers of Jozi@work on previous occasions and we will continue to join them in their demands for decent jobs. They should denounce the violence that was displayed in Council today, because they were misled by the tenderpreneures who want to cling to power under the project called jozi@work.

Issued by EFF Johannesburg Region