The African National Congress (ANC) would earn about 55% of the votes in Nelson Mandela Bay if an election were held today‚ says mayor Danny Jordaan.
Jordaan became mayor of the troubled port city of Port Elizabeth 10 months ago and is now confident the municipality’s financial position and general health have turned around so much that voters would attest to that come the August 3 local government elections.
“This city used to be dirty‚” he says‚ but he regularly gets feedback from residents who say: “Mayor‚ the city is clean. We were cleaning the city‚ filling up the potholes‚ dealing with water leaks.”
An anti-graft campaign has saved money while 29 senior managers have been booted out following disciplinary processes‚ he told Business Day.
Local businessman Mkhuseli Jack – often a strong critic of the ANC – says improvement under Jordaan’s stewardship of SA’s sixth biggest metropolitan centre was visible.
“Two things have happened: Danny’s coming in (as mayor) has shaken up things and the noise or the footsteps of the DA (Democratic Alliance) and a determined mayoral candidate Athol Trollip has led to us at least being governed a little bit better moving towards improving the situation.”
With the DA putting it under pressure‚ the ANC got just under 52% of the votes in this city five years ago‚ and dropped under the 50% mark in the provincial ballot in 2014.
Jordaan‚ a prominent football administrator‚ was roped in in May 2015 to stabilise the municipality and free it from the grip of patronage networks and feuding ANC factions .
He says he took over a badly run city‚ where endemic corruption had eroded the public’s confidence in the administration.
The municipality was planning to run a R400m budget deficit for the 2015-16 financial year‚ which cumulatively would leave it R1.2-billion in the red after three years.
“Certainly (I said I’m) not going to take a deficit budget.”
He says he rejected the budget plans as the beginning of the transformation of the city’s books.
“I found that in the budget was R250-million for overseas travels and conferences and all those things. (I said) this now is zero‚ no one travels anywhere. We cut that budget and took a budget to the council with a small surplus of R12-million.”
Things have changed dramatically since then‚ he says‚ and proof of that the was an improvement in the score from international ratings agencies.
“We had to close many of the leakages‚ so as we speak today our cash holding is R2-billion. Our credit rating by Moody’s is among the highest in the country.”
Danny Jordaan says he's done enough for the ANC to win PE
Jordaan became mayor of the troubled port city of Port Elizabeth 10 months ago and is now confident the municipality’s financial position and general health have turned around so much that voters would attest to that come the August 3 local government elections.
“This city used to be dirty‚” he says‚ but he regularly gets feedback from residents who say: “Mayor‚ the city is clean. We were cleaning the city‚ filling up the potholes‚ dealing with water leaks.”
An anti-graft campaign has saved money while 29 senior managers have been booted out following disciplinary processes‚ he told Business Day.
Local businessman Mkhuseli Jack – often a strong critic of the ANC – says improvement under Jordaan’s stewardship of SA’s sixth biggest metropolitan centre was visible.
“Two things have happened: Danny’s coming in (as mayor) has shaken up things and the noise or the footsteps of the DA (Democratic Alliance) and a determined mayoral candidate Athol Trollip has led to us at least being governed a little bit better moving towards improving the situation.”
With the DA putting it under pressure‚ the ANC got just under 52% of the votes in this city five years ago‚ and dropped under the 50% mark in the provincial ballot in 2014.
Jordaan‚ a prominent football administrator‚ was roped in in May 2015 to stabilise the municipality and free it from the grip of patronage networks and feuding ANC factions .
He says he took over a badly run city‚ where endemic corruption had eroded the public’s confidence in the administration.
The municipality was planning to run a R400m budget deficit for the 2015-16 financial year‚ which cumulatively would leave it R1.2-billion in the red after three years.
“Certainly (I said I’m) not going to take a deficit budget.”
He says he rejected the budget plans as the beginning of the transformation of the city’s books.
“I found that in the budget was R250-million for overseas travels and conferences and all those things. (I said) this now is zero‚ no one travels anywhere. We cut that budget and took a budget to the council with a small surplus of R12-million.”
Things have changed dramatically since then‚ he says‚ and proof of that the was an improvement in the score from international ratings agencies.
“We had to close many of the leakages‚ so as we speak today our cash holding is R2-billion. Our credit rating by Moody’s is among the highest in the country.”
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