Willie Spies’ plan to get South Africa’s capital city back on track

Willie Spies, the Freedom Front Plus mayoral candidate for the Tshwane Metro, has unveiled a 5-point plan to get the capital city back on track.

“The election result will not be determined by floor-crossers and egos. It will depend on the plans and actions of the parties that put them forward,” he said.

This plan, Spies said, will unravel the ANC legacy of wasteful expenditure, cadre deployment, infrastructure decay, and inefficiency.

“Our message is that a city works when its residents and the communities they form are back in control,” he said.

“A city works when tax money does not disappear into a bottomless pit, and when skilled tradespeople, rather than political bosses, do the work.”

The Freedom Front Plus’ five-point plan for the Tshwane Metro for how this should look in practice is as follows.

• Fewer political bosses, more skilled artisans: The VF Plus plans to stop political appointments and employ skilled artisans who can do the work.

• It will focus on affordable technological solutions rather than exorbitantly expensive capital projects.

• A city where business can grow: It will create a business-friendly environment, attracting investors and entrepreneurs, growing tourism, increasing agriculture, and boosting property developments.

• A safer city: There will be a strong focus on using the Metro Police for security and on using technology to multiply their striking power.

• Tax money that works for residents: The VF Plus will strengthen oversight committees, there will be no jobs-for-pals tenders, and revenue will be ring-fenced for roads, maintenance, and local priorities in wards.

Communities will be encouraged to establish Community Upliftment Precincts (CUPs) in partnership with civic institutions such as AfriForum and residents’ associations.

The powers of the CUPs will gradually be expanded so that they can, in time, grow into sub-councils where formal decision-making takes place closer to residents.

“The VF Plus’s first 100 days in the new city government of the Capital will lay the foundation to make Pretoria a world-class city again,” Spies said.