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How will The MK Party fix issues in 702 land? Bongani Baloyi, MKP Joburg Mayoral Candidate · Drive with John Perlman

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Right. Let's continue engaging with political parties who are out
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: there seeking your vote ahead of next week's local government
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: election poll. So we have been through a number of
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: different parties. Today, it is the turn of the MK party.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: And for this, we're joined by Bongani Baloi, who is
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: the Joburg mayoral candidate. Mr. Baloi, welcome and thanks very
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: much for your time. You're promising in your manifesto a
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: real strict financial regime. And I'll read this from your
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: manifesto under the section, get the finances right, which is,
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: as most people would agree, priority number one. It is
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: so on your manifesto. Every major commitment in this plan
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: ultimately depends on one condition. Johannesburg must be able to
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: pay for what it promises. You go on to say,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: not you, but the party. The objective is not austerity
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: for its own sake. It is a city that can
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: collect what is legitimately owed, protect the poor, pay its obligations,
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: maintain its assets, finance infrastructure, and regain confidence. Oh, I
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: see we seem to have lost our guest. with us
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: just as I was asking the question. Let's see if
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: we can get him back on the line. If not,
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: we'll deal with some other stuff and then get him
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: into the show later. I see that we're just giving
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: him a call at the moment. Coming up a little
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: bit later, I have this question for you. There we go.
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: Let's make sure, first of all, that Mr. Beloy can
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: hear me nice and clearly. Mr. Beloy, welcome and thanks
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: for your time.
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: Thank you for having us on your show, John. Pardon me,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: we're on the road. No problem.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: No problem. I don't know if you heard me read
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: the part from your manifesto about how you would exercise
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: financial discipline. If you heard that, please indicate and then
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: I'll move on to the question.
• 1:57
  Speaker 2: Well, I missed that first part.
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: Okay. Yeah, let's go from the beginning. So from your manifesto,
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: you say every major commitment in this plan ultimately depends
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: on one condition– Johannesburg must be able to pay for
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: what it promises. I also read out the point made
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: below that, but you're familiar with that material. So let
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: me get straight to the question and ask you this.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: You are promising a tightly run city in terms of
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: its finances. If we can't pay for it, we're not
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: going to do it. How sustainable is that going to
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: be though? A, in the face of what your voters
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: would be expecting from you, i.e. that their lives are
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: going to change? And secondly, in the likelihood of coalition politics,
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: how are you going to hold that line if you've
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: got other political parties with you who've made promises of
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: their own?
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: Look, it's important at all times to maintain that the
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: city of Johannesburg must become and then continue to be
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: an ongoing concern. So that is on the principle that
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: we must have strong financial management and be quite pedantic
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: about how we manage the finances of the city of Johannesburg.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: And we cannot overcommit the city and strain its resources
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: to the detriment of the city. So we'll implement very
• 3:09
  Speaker 2: tight discipline in terms of how we roll out the
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: budget and how we fund the budget. And most importantly,
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: how we allocate money to a key and critical infrastructure,
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: protecting our revenue, resolving the growing constraints of the city
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: of Johannesburg. So that requires us to be very mindful
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: and circumspect, even when there's coalition agreements about how fast
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: can you stretch the budget of Johannesburg. It can't just
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: be a trade-off and saying others want this, others want that.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: All of that must be paid for and budgeted properly,
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: and we can't throw that out of the window. I mean,
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: those very important financial disciplines are very important and sacrosanct
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: for us in running a well-run, tight-managed institution, which is
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: a very significant institution.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: Yes.
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  Speaker 2: There are projects that, obviously, as we engage in those
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: projects that will deal either in infrastructure or not, we'll
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: look at the various off-balance sheet methods or financing for those,
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: especially in the private sector, to ensure that we continue
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: and grow the infrastructure of Johannesburg.
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: You say elsewhere in the manifesto, and I'm paraphrasing here,
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: that you're not going to spend money that you don't have.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: Of course, that will depend on how you define money
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: that you do have. I would assume the city will
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: still be out in the debt markets, looking for loans
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: and so on. Would you put a cap on that, though?
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: Because it's one thing to say, well, we're not going
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: to spend money that we don't have. But if that
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: money is borrowed, I think that might be a problem
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: of a different kind. Oh, we seem to have lost Mr.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: Beloyed again, network problems. Um, yeah, I think let's, let's
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: come back to that in a moment. Business doesn't stand still.
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: Neither should your connectivity. 702 drive with John Pelman is
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: brought to you by telecom business. Okay. Let's pick up with, uh,
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: MK parties, Joe Berg, Merrill candidate, Bongani Beloyed. Mr. Beloyed,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: just to repeat my, my, the question I asked before
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  Speaker 1: we lost you, um, a tight ship, you're not going
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: to spend money that you don't have. But what is
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: the principle on borrowing that would underpin that? Because you
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: may have colleagues who will say, well, listen, we've got
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: lots of money, we've borrowed lots of money. That, of course,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: is a route that would bring its own problems. But
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure that your manifesto actually addresses that.
• 5:26
  Speaker 2: Look, I don't think a manifesto would naturally address what
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: you do with borrowing because there's those firm principles in
• 5:31
  Speaker 2: local government which inform you that borrowing When you engage
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: in borrowing, it has to deal with infrastructure from a
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: Capex perspective and how you recapitalize the infrastructure, new infrastructure,
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: whether it's a new fleet you're buying, whether we're doing
• 5:45
  Speaker 2: all sorts of things, but mainly on the perspective of
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: our capital infrastructure. So the borrowing will be limited, the
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: spending on the borrowing will be limited to CAPEX, which
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: is in the main your electricity infrastructure, your water infrastructure,
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: roads infrastructure, and various other similar and related infrastructure that
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: speaks to CAPEX only. So whatever conversation that needs to
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: happen will happen within that framework.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: You refer to the importance of rebuilding Joburg's economy and
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: you talk about renewing the CBD. How will you do that?
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: Because on the one hand, one of the challenges for
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: the CBD is that it's not friendly to a particular
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: kind of business, perhaps, although I would suggest small business
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: seems to thrive in the CBD, but it is also
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: the focal point of the housing pressure that the greater
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: Gauteng region is actually undergoing. What are the key planks
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: of that CBD renewal?
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: Look, I think there has to be a tighter law
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: enforcement system. and enforcement of our bylaws, and also a
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: creation of a new unit that will deal with parts
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: of the Immigration Act. The law does provide for a
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: national competency to be implemented at a local level on
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: an agency basis, and will apply to the Department of
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: Home Affairs, working with SAPS, the Department of Justice, and also, obviously,
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: partnering with JMPD to form this new unit dealing with
• 7:04
  Speaker 2: issues around illegal immigration in the city of Johannesburg. And obviously,
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: once we start reclaiming a number of these buildings and
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: dealing with them, and also creation... of a transitional fight
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: where those that were occupying those buildings and our South
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: Africans will be temporarily housed as we then deal and
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: unlock their capital in these other buildings and also engage
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: in private sector to restore some of these buildings and
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: also maintain some of these buildings and also obviously restart
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: the life of those buildings again. And I think over
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: a period of time, you'll start to see the state
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: of Johannesburg, most of the CBD becoming much more friendly
• 7:38
  Speaker 2: to families as we're tightening our bylaw enforcement, cleaning and
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: ensuring that the basic infrastructure happens. I think that's very
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: important because often we think that we must do these
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: very complicated things to get the city going again. Meanwhile,
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: it's a very simple thing that actually builds a solid
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: momentum and builds trust again because our citizens are tired
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: and frustrated because they are paying double for these. And
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: it's important for government to have that appreciation and be
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: able to work with the residents, work with business, organize
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: business community and and NGO sector to rebuild and reclaim
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: the state of Johannesburg again, including the CBD.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: I'm struck by something finally, Mr. Beloyed, that's under priority seven,
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: household economic recovery and opportunity, one of the Last point
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: there is about household debt reset. And you talk about
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: debt relief principles are retained, but they need to be controlled.
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: The importance of verifying indigent households. But this sentence really
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: caught my eye, and I'll read it for the listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Relief must improve future payment behavior rather than merely erase
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: historic losses. balances. For some people who perceive rightly or
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: wrongly the MK Party as a party of the left,
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: they might be somewhat surprised to find something here, which
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure to what extent you're emphasizing this on
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  Speaker 1: the campaign trail, saying that, you know, we'll deal with
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: your debts, but this is only if you become better
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: at paying money. How are you going to make that happen?
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: I would think some of your potential voters might have
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: very different expectations.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: No, in fact, we go a step further beyond that.
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  Speaker 2: We say that our townships will have a social tariff
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: that they pay, and the base of the social tariff
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: will be the simple fact that we'll move them off
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: the grid from the ESCOM or city power grid into
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: microgrids where they're self-generating. And I really think there's a
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: big opportunity for self-generation in all of our townships. we
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: can achieve about 15 percent of the power needs of
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: Johannesburg if we're to go green, but mostly in our townships.
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: And I think then it deepens another topic, a subject
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: that many of us talk about at a superficial level,
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: which is local economic development. What we are proposing is
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: that we move from local economic development to household economic
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: development and recovery. So when we move you to a
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: social tariff, you then will also be able to pay
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: your rate account with the units that you generate and
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: also a very small social tariff. which will be a
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: flat fee across our townships, which are NOPS capital that
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: we need there. But most importantly, you turn our households
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: into generation size of electricity, which most importantly moves those
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: houses from indigency to above indigency and much more viable.
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Bongani Baloi, MK Party Joburg mayoral candidate.
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: Google the MK Party. Look for their manifesto online and
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: please do the same with all the other political parties
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: we've interviewed and those we have yet to chat to.