Exclusive: Ex Public Safety MMC Michael Sun Commends Joburg's Rebuilding Efforts
- Former MMC for Public Safety Michael Sun gave Briefly News exclusive insight into the ongoing rebuilding efforts in Johannesburg following last month's unrest
- Sun commended residence of the metro for their resilience and urged them to continue to help one another as they recover from the devastation
- The DA member lamented law enforcement's apparent slow response in quelling the violence or implementing measures to reduce the carnage
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On the heels of the recent spate of public violence and widespread looting in Johannesburg, former MMC for Public Safety Michael Sun spoke exclusively to Briefly News about the ongoing rebuilding efforts in the city.
The metro was one of the mostly-widely affected regions amid the unrest, which had started as protests against the incarceration of former president Jacob Zuma in KwaZulu-Natal before spreading to Gauteng.
Source: Twitter
Sun, whose term as the MMC for Public Safety ended when the late Geoff Makhubo was elected as the new mayor of Johannesburg in December 2019, told Briefly News that rebuilding efforts to restore parts of the city have been ongoing.
"My colleagues and I were on the ground soon after the unrest and when it was safe to do so. We met many people and business owners who were affected by the looting and burning," said Sun.
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"Many of them do not have insurance and rebuilding is difficult. However, we have also seen how resilient Joburgers are, as they help each other to clean up and rebuild from scratch.
On the ground to mobilise efforts
"We have participated in the cleaning and have assisted businesses to collate and submit information on their losses. [if] any assistance project is announced they will be able to get onto the process quicker."
"I have, personally, met and spoke to small-medium business owners who had lost millions of rand and had their life’s work burnt to the ground.
"Many of them have a commonality that insurance companies were unwilling to insure their businesses, and they had to resort to other means to balance the risk."
Now the DA’s Shadow MMC for Public Safety and a Johannesburg councillor, Sun lambasted law enforcement, saying it was "not as proactive as it needed to be". The DA member said he made the call for a quicker and more concerted response to quell the volatile situation at the time.
"Unfortunately, law enforcement in the form of SAPS was too slow and too late. The approach and attitude of SAPS are concerning in that they allowed the situation to escalate to such an extent that they were unable to counter it.
The situation should not have been allowed to get out of hand
Sun lamented law enforcement's apparent slow response in quelling the violence or implementing measures to reduce the carnage. He held the view that the damage could have been on a lower scale had the appropriate steps been taken.
"There was, indeed, a lack of will to deal with the situation with the appropriate response and speed required. The deployment of the SANDF was also delayed and did not result in the anticipated result," said Sun.
"I am of the view that fewer deaths, injuries and economical losses could have been suffered had the top politicians and law enforcement acted quicker."
He would not comment on whether he thinks the unrest was a failed insurrection attempt as previously alluded to by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
When asked about the recent cabinet reshuffle, specifically, the move by the president to remove Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as the Defence Minister, the councillor also declined to comment.
Citizens need to move past the recent unrest
However, he did encourage South Africans to rise from this ordeal and help each other to rebuild. He said:
"We need to learn important lessons and ensure that the safety of our citizens must always come first. Those politicians and officials who have failed to perform their duties must be held to account.
"The national, provincial and local governments must act swiftly to assist the citizens and businesses in rebuilding by introducing appropriate projects to reduce the financial burdens suffered.
"The culprits involved in the violence, looting arson and other criminal acts must not escape the law and be dealt with seriously."
Party shop owner receives R25k pledge after her dream was crushed by looters
In other news, Briefly News previously reported that a small business owner in Soweto, like many others, bore the brunt of the wave of the unrest and violence that swept through the southwestern township last month.
Thandi Johnson, who before those events was an enterprising female sole proprietor who worked to put a smile on the faces of those who walked into her store, unwittingly found herself targeted when her store was destroyed.
The looting, which likely lasted only a few minutes inside the store, rendered Johnson's shop completely destroyed and leaving her to pick up the fragments.
OneSpark, which is a South African financial services company, decided to step in and pledged R25 000 to assist Johnson to rebuild after seeing the scale of the damage her business sustained.
Source: Briefly News
