Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse’s absence on the ground this week to lead the city’s emergency response to flooding, power outages and infrastructure damage has raised the ire of some in the opposition.
Phalatse was last on a site visit on Friday in Alexandra after the first flash floods that hit Joburg.
Since then several areas have been battered by storms and flooding, with at 60 people displaced in Nancefield Hostel, bridges washed away and several roads closed after they were severely damaged.
The city has also been struggling to restore electricity supply to thousands of residents of Roodepoort, Westbury, Newclare, Bosmont and Claremont, leading some to question where the number one citizen of Joburg was when the city appeared in crisis.
Phalatse's office released a statement on Monday pleading with Eskom to exclude the city from loadshedding in order to deal with infrastructure problems that have been caused by heavy rainfalls.
City officials told Sowetan yesterday that the mayor has been chairing emergency response meetings with her MMCs virtually since the weekend but nobody knew where she was.
A senior city official who spoke to Sowetan on condition of anonymity said Phalatse had told her MMCs that she was available “virtually”.
“The last time I saw her was last week and honestly, I haven’t seen her since then,” the city official said.
Phalatse’s spokesperson Mabine Seabe said to say the mayor has been missing in action is not true, adding that Phalatse was in Alexandra on Friday.
“The mayor was in Alex on Friday assessing the state of damages as well as level of coordination between departments and entities so much so the city has had to respond. She’s deployed MMCs to various areas depending on damage ... regions C, D and E have been the hardest hit.
“This morning the mayor chaired a virtual executive meeting where she was briefed and we’re hoping by the end of the week, if not sooner, the mayor will receive a report on the damage and response,” Seabe said.
AIC councillor and coordinator of the minority bloc in council Margaret Arnolds said she wasn’t sure where the mayor was, but added her absence on the ground was concerning.
“You’re leaving the biggest municipality in Africa while it is being flooded, while water is taking away your entire city, while people are homeless, left with nothing except the clothes on their back. She should have been on the ground, everywhere from Eldos to Protea Glen, that’s what she should’ve done. When we withdrew the motion against her, we said we’ll look at your performance with your golden start and right now she’s in the red,” Arnolds said.
Another city insider confirmed that Phalatse had chaired a virtual meeting known as a cabinet meeting which is usually made up of Phalatse, her MMCs and their staff. Officials attend only on invitation.
“Last Thursday, we held a physical cabinet meeting at the Old Council Chamber and she told us she’d be away this week. She was in Alex on Friday but she’s not really been seen since. Today she chaired a virtual cabinet meeting but we can’t say where she had logged in from because it was virtual,” the insider said.
City of Johannesburg speaker Colleen Makhubele, who has been visiting families affected by floods, said: “A mayor must be a mayor of all citizens of the city. She has to be visible to everyone and not be dictated to on who should be served.
“In Sandton they’re busy fixing roads. But if you go to Snake Park, there are no roads to drive on and I could not reach some of the areas we wanted to. We’ve not been able to reach her or get a response from her office to some of our requests.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.