Belgian mayor and investors come to Karoo to invest, learn and share lessons

By: ANG Reporter 

The district mayor of the Central Karoo, Gayton McKenzie, this week welcomed a delegation of Belgian investors – including a Belgian mayor – to his region to show them what strides are being made in changing the fortunes of the Karoo.

McKenzie said on Saturday that the “investors spoke glowingly about the beauty of the Central Karoo and the many opportunities here”.

The Mayor of Maasmechelen, Raf Terwingen, had also “decided to come and see for himself the work that we are doing here”.

Maasmechelen is a municipality located on the Meuse in the Belgian province of Limburg.

“We shared notes and I learned so much from him and what he did when mines closed and people were losing jobs. He is on a massive job-creation drive.”

McKenzie thanked the Belgians for their visit and undertook to honour their invitation to go and address more Belgian investors in Europe and see first-hand what strides Terwingen was making at home too.

McKenzie has recently had to endure a slew of negative media reports alleging that he was not keeping to his promise to not benefit from a municipal salary while working as a mayor. Another report alleged that the bucket toilet system had not been successfully eradicated in the district within McKenzie’s first 100 days, as McKenzie has claimed.

However, the district mayor spent this week carefully documenting the locations where the toilets had been replaced with flush toilet systems and allowing South Africans to see and hear for themselves what the beneficiaries had to say about how their lives had been changed.

Not one cent of municipal funding was spent on replacing the toilets, despite millions having been misappropriated in the past by corrupt officials from the district and the local municipalities from funds that had been earmarked for such projects.

McKenzie funded the toilet upgrades through a combination of his own funding, funding from his party members, the Patriotic Alliance, and numerous private donors who believe in his vision of building a better South Africa.

McKenzie had earlier opted not to put these beneficiaries on public display as a show of respect towards them, since their homes and toilets are meant to be personal and private. However, the cynical public allegations forced him to have to do so, with some regret.

McKenzie also made his bank records public, showing how each cent he had earned was reinvested into the community.

He has challenged any detractor, including those from the Democratic Alliance and the SA Communist Party, to provide proof of their allegations, which has so far not been forthcoming.

“It’s just irresponsible reporting,” said McKenzie.

“The DA needs to be careful because they still need us in some coalitions. We’ve already punished them heavily throughout the Western Cape and would not like to be forced to do the same in Gauteng, because there are other parties in those coalitions who do not lie about me and the Patriotic Alliance.

“I don’t mind being criticised on facts and things I may really be getting wrong. But don’t come with lies. I don’t deal in lies myself and do not appreciate being lied about.”