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How will The FF+ fix issues in 702 land? · Drive with John Perlman

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  Speaker 1: Your rates, your services, your reality. Follow the local government
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: elections on 702 Cape Talk and EWN.co.za.
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  Speaker 2: 16 minutes past four on 702 Drive. We continue our
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  Speaker 2: focus on what various political parties are offering to the
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  Speaker 2: voters ahead of next week's local government elections today. We
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  Speaker 2: focus on Freedom Front Plus, FF Plus. Twane Councillor and
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  Speaker 2: mayoral candidate for that metro, Vili Spies, is our guest.
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  Speaker 3: Mr.
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  Speaker 2: Spies, welcome, and thanks very much for giving us your time.
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  Speaker 2: I'm looking at your manifesto, and this particular proposal caught
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  Speaker 2: my eye. A substantial portion of the tax money collected
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  Speaker 2: in your ward, your property rates and levies, should be
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  Speaker 2: reinvested there. The better the collection rate of a ward,
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  Speaker 2: the more money should be spent on that ward's priorities.
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  Speaker 2: What strikes me about that proposal is you seem to
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  Speaker 2: view cities as potentially a series of islands where as
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  Speaker 2: long as you can have things working properly in the
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  Speaker 2: area where you live, then, you know, things will be
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  Speaker 2: at least somewhat better, if not entirely ideal. Surely that's counterintuitive.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, cities need to work as a whole, don't they?
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  Speaker 3: They work as a whole, but... Every institution that works
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  Speaker 3: as a whole, if you have a business and that
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  Speaker 3: business consists of various divisions, it just makes sense to
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  Speaker 3: measure the performance of every division within that business separately
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  Speaker 3: and to remunerate and to reward good performance in those
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  Speaker 3: divisions that are performing and to create mechanisms to help
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  Speaker 3: those that are not performing to do better. The idea
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  Speaker 3: is not to take away anything from any part. We
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  Speaker 3: should remember that the actual levies that are being paid
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  Speaker 3: is not the majority of the income of the council.
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  Speaker 3: The council gets income from a whole range of sources,
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  Speaker 3: electricity sales, water sales, national allocations. Even part of the
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  Speaker 3: fuel levy forms part of the income of the city
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  Speaker 3: as a whole. But those rates and taxes that are
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  Speaker 3: paid within a specific ward, it just makes sense for
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  Speaker 3: people to feel that they get something back for that.
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  Speaker 3: If you do not do that, then you create a
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  Speaker 3: disconnect and you will end up in a situation where
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  Speaker 3: people won't pay anymore and people will lose interest in
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  Speaker 3: what is happening on council level because they are being taxed.
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  Speaker 3: but they can see nothing for that. So for that
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  Speaker 3: very reason, we suggest that this is a mechanism. It's
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  Speaker 3: not a way of creating islands. We all agree that
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  Speaker 3: we live in one metropolitan area and the one metropolitan
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  Speaker 3: area must succeed. But for the whole to succeed, the
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  Speaker 3: different divisions and the different communities may succeed as well.
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  Speaker 2: Well, let's explore your argument a little bit further, Mr. Spiess,
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  Speaker 2: and take it in this direction. I mean, some of
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  Speaker 2: the people who are in the areas that you're describing
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  Speaker 2: live in the area but run businesses in other areas.
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  Speaker 2: And in those businesses, they employ people who are coming
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  Speaker 2: from areas that have a much, much smaller rateable base. Now,
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  Speaker 2: if your workforce is not making it there because the
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  Speaker 2: buses can't move down potholed streets or because bronchosporate being
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  Speaker 2: a case in point, they can't come because their kids
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  Speaker 2: have gastroenteritis. If you look at the overall welfare of
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  Speaker 2: the people whose rates you think should be used on
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  Speaker 2: their areas alone.
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  Speaker 3: How is that? John, let me just help you quickly.
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  Speaker 4: Well, can I finish my question?
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  Speaker 3: Well, can I finish my answer?
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  Speaker 4: Well, I haven't got a question yet.
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  Speaker 3: You are quoting incorrectly from our manifesto.
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  Speaker 4: Okay, I'll give you a chance to correct that.
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  Speaker 3: Our manifesto does not say that every single cent that
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  Speaker 3: you are spending must go back.
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  Speaker 4: To the question.
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  Speaker 3: That's not what we are saying. And you read from it,
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  Speaker 3: but now your own interpretation that you are drawing is
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  Speaker 3: and that you are confronting me with differs from the reality.
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  Speaker 3: The fact of the matter is that we say that
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  Speaker 3: there need to be incentives. We say that there need
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  Speaker 3: to be rewards for districts and boards where people are paying,
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  Speaker 3: and people must see the benefits of what they are paying.
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  Speaker 3: That's what we are saying. Mr.
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  Speaker 4: Spies, I think you've made your point.
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  Speaker 2: Let me quote exactly what your manifesto has. Settle your misgivings,
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  Speaker 2: and then can I ask you my question?
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  Speaker 3: Sure, you're welcome.
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  Speaker 4: Okay, here we go.
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  Speaker 2: A substantial portion of the tax money collected in your ward,
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  Speaker 2: your property rates and levies, should be reinvested there. I
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  Speaker 2: appreciate your correction. If I said all, then I put
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  Speaker 2: that incorrectly. But I think we can regard that as settled.
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  Speaker 2: Can I return to the question I asked you?
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  Speaker 3: Thank you. I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 4: Well, can I return to my question, or must I
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  Speaker 4: ask it again?
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  Speaker 3: Please ask it again.
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  Speaker 4: Okay.
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  Speaker 2: So the welfare of the people who would benefit from
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  Speaker 2: the proposal you're making is partly derived from their living
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  Speaker 2: circumstances in the communities where they live. But I would
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  Speaker 2: put it to you, for example, they may run a
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  Speaker 2: business where people who work there come from areas that
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  Speaker 2: have a less affluent rateable base. Now, if those people
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  Speaker 2: are either unable to come to work or unable to
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  Speaker 2: perform adequately at work because, for example, transport is delayed
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  Speaker 2: by potholes in the road or bronchial spray being a
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  Speaker 2: case in point.
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  Speaker 4: They're looking after kids who have severe gastro.
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  Speaker 2: Might that not prove to be short-sighted if substantial amounts
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  Speaker 2: of revenue don't find their way into the city coffers?
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  Speaker 3: The substantial amounts of city revenue still comes from other
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  Speaker 3: sources than local rates and taxes. And that's the important
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  Speaker 3: thing that I've mentioned. Local rates and taxes does not
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  Speaker 3: make up the majority of city income. So what's being
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  Speaker 3: paid in a specific ward, and if I have a
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  Speaker 3: business in one ward and I have a house in
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  Speaker 3: a different ward, I pay taxes in both those areas
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  Speaker 3: because I own property in both those areas. And if
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  Speaker 3: I do not own the property, then I pay rent
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  Speaker 3: for that property, and the landlord pays rates and taxes
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  Speaker 3: for that specific property in question. So remember that in
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  Speaker 3: the total picture, the rates and taxes are a portion
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  Speaker 3: of the total city income. And the figures in the
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  Speaker 3: region of 10% to 15% of the total city income
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  Speaker 3: comes from rates and taxes.
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  Speaker 4: That's a fair amount.
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  Speaker 3: 85%. Yes, and 85% comes from other sources.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, but 15% is a substantial amount.
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  Speaker 3: It is substantial. And if we say that if a
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  Speaker 3: substantial amount, of that substantial amount, if I pay rates
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  Speaker 3: and taxes in a specific ward, and those rates and
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  Speaker 3: taxes are spent in the ward where those rates and
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  Speaker 3: taxes are paid, then we reward payment. Obviously, we have
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  Speaker 3: to conduct... and we have to enhance infrastructure in other areas.
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  Speaker 3: But 85% of the city income comes from sources that
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  Speaker 3: are not allocated to specific wards. We spent on a
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  Speaker 3: large-scale business on the improvement of the city as a whole.
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  Speaker 3: But what we want to see is rewards for areas
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  Speaker 3: that are performing well. And we want to see that
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  Speaker 3: those areas are remunerated or rewarded for the fact that
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  Speaker 3: they are paying. That's a healthy business principle. And I
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  Speaker 3: think even the company that you work for would reward
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  Speaker 3: you if the income that you derive from the program
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  Speaker 3: that you present is good. then you as a presenter
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  Speaker 3: is also remunerated and rewarded for that.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, please do pass that on to my bosses.
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  Speaker 4: Can I ask you this, though?
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  Speaker 2: One more aspect of your manifesto, because we've spent quite
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  Speaker 2: a lot of time on this race issue. You say
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  Speaker 2: it's important to first upgrade existing water infrastructure before investing
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  Speaker 2: in new infrastructure. Cities grow, cities expand. How do you
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  Speaker 2: get the balance right? I get that you've got to
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  Speaker 2: fix what you have, but you've got to do one
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  Speaker 2: before you do the other would suggest something rather more
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  Speaker 2: linear that until you've done one, you can't do the other.
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  Speaker 2: But how do you deal with the fact that cities
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  Speaker 2: are growing?
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  Speaker 4: There are new cluster homes going up. There are new
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  Speaker 4: informal settlements.
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  Speaker 2: If you look at the two extremes, surely you've got
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  Speaker 2: to spend on both.
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  Speaker 3: You have to spend on both, but the fact of
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  Speaker 3: the matter is that it becomes impossible to spend on
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  Speaker 3: both for two reasons. The one is only 2.5 billion
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  Speaker 3: rand out of a 50 billion rand budget at the
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  Speaker 3: moment can be spent on capital infrastructure in any event.
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  Speaker 3: That's only 5% of the total budget that can be
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  Speaker 3: spent on infrastructure. That's the current What we do have
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  Speaker 3: is there's a multiplier effect of our failures because the
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  Speaker 3: existing infrastructure is not maintained as it should be. And
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  Speaker 3: that is for various reasons. One of the most important
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  Speaker 3: reasons is the fact that we as a city have
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  Speaker 3: not employed enough people. plumbers and electricians to maintain our infrastructure.
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  Speaker 3: We are employing line managers. There are divisions within the
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  Speaker 3: city where there's a line of management of five to
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  Speaker 3: six managers, each one of them just managing one single person.
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  Speaker 3: And then there's understaffing on the level of artisans, the
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  Speaker 3: plumbers and the electricians who actually need to do the
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  Speaker 3: maintenance work and do the repairs that are necessary for
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  Speaker 3: the infrastructure to be upkept.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you so much. We'll have to leave it there.
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  Speaker 2: Willy Spears Freedom Front plus Tswane Councillor and Tswane Mayoral
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  Speaker 2: Candidates will do another political party tomorrow and all of
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  Speaker 2: the rest of this week. 27 minutes past four.