EFF & ANC coalition a blow to service delivery and economic growth in NMB

02 Mar 2018 in News

R200 million of service delivery projects will grind to a halt, due to a populist partnership between the EFF and ANC in Nelson Mandela Bay.

At a Council Meeting on 27 February 2018, the ANC, EFF, AIC, UF, PA and UDM put politics first when they voted against a 85% pro-poor adjustments budget, stealing service delivery from the city’s poorest residents.

The Metro Police are now unable to purchase new vehicles, which were meant to fight gangsterism in the city’s Northern Areas and townships. R3 million was allocated for this in the failed adjustments budget. Any blood spilt in this war against crime is on the hands of the EFF and ANC.

R13.3 million that was meant to go towards public lighting in the city’s darkest communities who have the ANC and the EFF to thank for their dark and unsafe streets.

R45 million was meant to be adjusted to improve sanitation and water infrastructure in Motherwell, Wells Estate, Khayamnandi and KwaLanga with a further R39 million budgeted for water leaks detection. The opposition chose to reject this important service delivery initiative because their focus is a populist agenda that only suits themselves, and keeps residents using the bucket system.

This coalition government proposed an adjustment of R10 million, meant for the tarring of gravel roads in township communities. R2 million of this was for Ward 17 alone, an ANC ward, near the symbolic Red Location Museum. Instead, the ANC and EFF would rather our residents be subjected to undignified, untarred, gravel roads.

R67 million was meant to be budgeted for vacancies in the Metro, from which the insourcing of security officials, something the EFF initially supported, was meant to be funded.

It is clear that the ANC and EFF do not want services to be delivered to our city’s poor. They are power hungry populists more interested in lining their own pockets than delivering services to the people. The voting down of this adjustments budget, led by the ANC and EFF, is a horror for the city’s poor.

We will not stand idly by and watch the EFF help the ANC steal back Nelson Mandela Bay. The people of Nelson Mandela Bay voted the ANC out of government and elected a DA, ACDP and COPE coalition government. We will defend the will of the people and we call on the people to defend their coalition government.

The ANC stands for crumbling service delivery, building corrupt governments and destroying economies and jobs. And now we know the EFF does too.

This coalition government, led by me as Executive Mayor, stands for service delivery, stopping corruption and growing the economy to create jobs.

By June, this government will have created 8000 job opportunities through EPWP. We have launched the first ever Metro Police Force. We have tarred over 30km of Road. We have eradicated 5000 bucket toilets. We have installed 1000 new public lights. We have painted new road markings across the City.

We are in the best financial position we have been in for over five years. We are making progress. Only those who choose not to see, cannot see.

So, yes, we will stand in the face of any challenge. We will stand in the face of any populist agenda. We will stand in the face of any party that wishes to crush our democracy.

And we will win. Together, as one City with One Future.