The new mayor of the Central Karoo District municipality, Gayton McKenzie, has vowed that there will not be a single bucket toilet in the area when he delivers his progress report in 100 days’ time.
Taking to the podium in Beaufort West to deliver his speech after he was elected unopposed, the national leader of the Patriotic Alliance (PA) boldly proclaimed that he would ensure that blocked meters of households who had defaulted on their municipal bills would be unblocked.
Businesses and farmers would, however, still have to settle their accounts in full.
McKenzie, who recently joined local government politics when he was sworn in as a councillor of the Laingsburg municipality, was nominated to the position of mayor by Karoo Democratic Force councillor Noël Constable.
No other party put forward a candidate to contest the position and councillors and PA supporters erupted into applause and song before McKenzie stood up to take his oath of office.
Delivering his maiden speech, he said he would inculcate a culture of responsibility in the Central Karoo.
He promised to forgo a salary, saying it should be used to fix municipal pools instead, and that the mayoral vehicle should be sold to purchase an ambulance to serve the area.
McKenzie, an ex-convict and businessman, also said he would not claim for petrol and he did not want any bodyguards assigned to him.
The first swimming pool would ready in seven days, he promised.
“Gone are the days of blaming apartheid,” he said.
“We will not shift blame but take responsibility.
“I am not a mayor of PA people.
“I’m the mayor of all the people.
“Gone are the days of ANC, KDF or PA workers — from today no-one must come to work at 10am.
“I will fire the boss that must fire the person that came to work late.”
On the problem of bucket toilets in the area, he said: “Within 30 days we shall start eradicating all bucket toilets.
“When I stand here with my 100-day speech, there will be no bucket toilet in the Central Karoo.
“A tender will go out in the next two weeks,” he said.
“I don’t want to be district mayor if the people still use bucket toilets.
“A tender must go out, an emergency tender.”
McKenzie said he would ensure there were markings on roads across the district.
“Tomorrow I’m going to wake up with anyone that wants to come and join me to clean this town.
“The first place I want to clean is the graveyard, it is a disgrace,” he said.
He said he would also address the poverty in the district.
“In seven days there will be a tender going out for a feeding scheme.
“Our children are asking for food from people coming from Joburg [motorists passing by].
“Anyone with a registered NPO must apply for that tender,” he said.
McKenzie said the Central Karoo was rich in uranium.
“Every time people come and want to mine here they are told of the flora and fauna.
“We are going to stand up against people who say their sheep are going to die.
“Our people are dying,” McKenzie said.
Touching on his party’s policy on illegal foreign workers in SA, he said the Central Karoo region would be an “illegal immigrant-free zone”.
“Very soon, I will be going to the houses in Donkin and ask the people of the municipality if the house has been zoned for a shop.
He said he would ask: “Does this person pay tax? Where are the papers of this person?
“We are going to teach the government how to deal with illegal foreigners because you cannot go to Somalia and open a business there.
“You cannot just go and buy people’s houses.
“These houses were given to the people by the ANC government,” he said.
HeraldLIVE