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Joburg Mayor: EFF’s choice is between the DA-led multiparty coalition of change or a corrupt cabal

At a meeting of the Johannesburg City Council on Thursday, 28 November 2019, outgoing Executive Mayor, Cllr Herman Mashaba, will resign, making the election of a new Mayor the first order of business of the Council.

As the Democratic Alliance (DA) we will be fielding a capable and experienced candidate, Cllr Funzela ‘Funzi’ Ngobeni. Ngobeni currently serves as the MMC for Finance and the Leader of Executive Business. The EFF have stated that they will put forward a candidate, and we assume that the ANC will present a candidate.

This scenario where there are three candidates, and the political dynamics of the Joburg Council, will most likely result in a run-off election. In terms of Schedule 3 of the Municipal Structures Act, which regulates the election of Mayors, if there are more than two candidates for the position, the Council will have successive rounds of voting. After each round, the candidate with the least number of votes will drop out, and voting will then take place for the remaining candidates.

Having consulted with our Coalition Parties, namely the IFP, ACDP, COPE, and FF+, we are confident that when the various caucuses toe their party lines, the EFF candidate will fall out, leaving the DA and ANC candidates.

This, therefore, leaves the EFF with an important decision, whether they support the DA multiparty coalition’s candidate or support the ANC, whose only intention is to reverse the progress made since 2016 and loot the people of Johannesburg’s money. Further, even if the EFF abstains the ANC will regain control of the City. No doubt there will be a return to the wholesale looting of the past.

The coming week’s vote is critical for the future of Johannesburg. In Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB), communities are experiencing first-hand the damage that can be done when the EFF make the choice to sit on their hands and give the keys to the city back to the ANC. 

The excellent recovery work done by Mayor Athol Trollip was swiftly undone by the coalition of corruption, consisting of the ANC, UDM, and UF (sometimes assisted by the PF). The contrast between the DA-led government and that of the coalition of corruption has been stark. In frank terms, Nelson Mandela Bay is being plundered, it has run out of water in some areas, and some of the key office-bearers in the municipality are being investigated by the Hawks. All the while, it is the people of the City who suffer, and particularly the poor.

Like the previous DA-led NMB administration, the DA’s Mayor Mashaba has brought significant change to Johannesburg, reversing two-decades of ANC non-responsiveness and theft of the people’s money.

Some of the change brought by the DA-led multiparty coalition include:

  • The cutting of frivolous expenditure through concerted austerity measures increased the percentage of the capital budget spent on engineering infrastructure and housing from 58% in 2016 to 71% in 2019;
  • Over 900km of roads have been resurfaced, out of the 4000km of roads that lay in poor and very poor conditions;
  • A major turnaround has been made in resolving the long-standing billing crisis. The number of queries every month has come down, the backlogs have been reduced and the average time to resolve queries has been halved;
  • Investment in the City has grown by 400% from R4,5 billion in 2015/16 to R17,3 billion in 2018/19;
  • Healthcare and access to it has improved with 26 clinics across the City having their operating hours extended;
  • The forensic and anti-corruption unit established by the current administration has reawakened the fight against corruption, with over 6000 cases under investigation, totaling more than R35 billion in expenditure. This unit has managed hundreds of arrests and dismissals of corrupt City officials;
  • In a commitment to build a safe city, 1,500 new JMPD are set to be deployed following their training. This represents a 50% in the size of the JMPD force;
  • Over 7,400 households in informal settlements were electrified during 2016/17 and 2017/18 with a target of 6,500 for the 2018/19 financial year.
  • The Inner City revitalization project stands poised to transform the skyline of Johannesburg, with 139 properties awarded for development and construction has already begun.

This is but snapshot of the change we have brought to Johannesburg, and it would be sad day for the people of the City if the ANC were to be elected back to the Mayor’s Office.

We will continue engaging our coalition partners and the EFF to ensure that the people of Johannesburg come first.

Our work is not done, and there is still more to be done to build a safe, corruption-free, and investment-rich City for the people.

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Let’s vote out job-killing corruption, and vote in change that builds one SA for all

The following remarks were delivered today by Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at the Eastern Cape provincial launch of the party’s Team One SA campaign outside a failed public/private job-creating initiative in Chatty, Port Elizabeth. Maimane was joined by Eastern Cape Premier Candidate, Nqaba Bhanga, Team One South Africa Spokesperson for Women, Nomafrench Mbombo, and DA Federal Chairperson, Athol Trollip.

Fellow South Africans,

Today we kick off the DA’s 2019 election campaign in the Eastern Cape. A campaign in which, over the next seven months, we will take our message of “Change that Builds One South Africa for All” to every corner of this province.

And while our focus this morning is on bringing our vision of a better future to the people of South Africa, our attention tomorrow will be on Finance Minister Tito Mboweni’s first Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, where he will have the opportunity to show whether the ANC can finally put its own interests second and the people’s interests first.

Our people are suffering, and they are suffering as a direct result of ANC policy failure. Our recession, our falling currency, our tax increases and petrol price increases, our spiraling unemployment and our growing poverty aren’t because of global conditions. Our global peers are growing. Our African neighbours are growing. Our economic trauma is all self-inflicted.

Tomorrow Minister Mboweni has a chance to start correcting this. To disassociate himself from EFF-style rhetoric and to walk away from his damaging statements on state intervention in everything from mining and banking to land ownership. This is his chance to finally put poor, unemployed and mostly young South Africans first.

Minister Mboweni has an opportunity tomorrow to show that he can increase private sector investment, that he can stabilise national debt below 50%, that he can take rational decisions on our failed SOE’s, that he can bring stability to SARS and that he can provide clarity on the mega-loans being negotiated with China behind closed doors.

If he can’t do this, then it surely makes no sense to persist with this ANC government.

Fellow South Africans, there is a very good reason why we’re launching our election campaign in Chatty, and specifically here by this building behind me. We chose this site because this building stands as a testament to the corruption and neglect of the ANC in government here in NMB.

What you see here – the crumbling structure, the stripped out interior and the lack of any activity and enterprise – is a perfect metaphor for the legacy of the ANC. The very same ANC who, with the help of the EFF and the UDM, have now been allowed back in to government here so that they can pick up where they left off.

Back in 2003, this building was chosen to be the home of the Bethelsdorp Hand Weavers, a carpet factory started as part of a project to provide jobs, develop skills and eradicate poverty in this part of NMB. It was run by an NGO that received funding from the local ANC government, and it employed 200 women from the community.

In principle, this all sounds good. But in reality, this turned out to be just another looting scheme where the money ended up in the pockets of a few corrupt individuals, and government provided no oversight and no control over where its funds went.

And so, while the corrupt got rich, this enterprise failed. The women who worked here went for months without being paid. Today, a decade after the factory closed its doors, most of these women are still unemployed.

In a province like the Eastern Cape, and specifically a community like Bethelsdorp with its sky-high unemployment rate, it is shameful that there was no accountability in the ANC government for precious public money, and particularly money meant for job creation.

And yet this is the standard operating procedure for the ANC. Here in NMB, this kind of looting of public money happened in virtually every contract, tender and project undertaken by the ANC government over two decades. It was all just easy money, and no one bothered to think of the people affected by it.

When Jacob Zuma said, back in 2009, that charges against him should be dropped because corruption wasn’t a “real crime” and that there are no victims involved, he wasn’t just speaking for himself. He was speaking for every ANC minister, mayor and councillor who believed that all money was there to be taken.

Well, I’m here today to tell them they are wrong. Corruption has victims. Real people with families and dependents. Parents, siblings, breadwinners. Corruption’s victims are those who are left to deal with the unemployment and poverty, and all the crime, drugs and violence that follows.

The people of Bethelsdorp are victims of corruption. The hundreds of women who lost their jobs at this factory are victims of corruption. Their families who were counting on an income are victims of corruption. These factory doors may have closed ten years ago, but they remain victims today.

If you want to know why communities like these need change, just speak to the people affected by corruption-failed projects like these. Some of these women are here with us today. Ask them if they want to go back to the ANC way of doing things.

We cannot go back there. The Eastern Cape certainly can’t go back there. This is the province with the highest expanded unemployment rate in South Africa. Almost 46% of working-age men and women in this province cannot find a job. Young people leave this province in droves in search of opportunities elsewhere.

That is why we are gathered here today to launch our election campaign in this province. We are here to say: Our country needs change. We need a fresh start so we can rebuild our society and an economy that works for all.

Under the ANC government we ended up with a massively divided nation. There are those on the inside, people with jobs, education, opportunities, and there are those on the outside, millions of South Africans who live in poverty and who have no hope of finding employment. This must change.

Under a DA government we will bridge this divide. We will focus all our efforts on bringing the outsiders into the economy by supporting enterprise, attracting investment and helping businesses large and small to create jobs. We will unite South Africans around this goal instead of dividing, blaming and creating enemies.

The DA will bring change that builds one South Africa for all.

No other party is promising to do this. No other party even pretends to speak for all South Africans, or offers a plan that will grow the economy, create jobs, make our communities safe and speed up basic service delivery.

Under the leadership of our Premier candidate, Nqaba Bhanga, we will take this message to every city, town and village in the province. Because it is of the utmost importance that we bring clean, accountable DA government to the people of the Eastern Cape.

In two short years, the DA-led coalition government in NMB brought more progress to areas like Bethelsdorp than the ANC did in two decades. Not far from where we’re standing is the new depot for the new Integrated Public Transport Service. Also near us is the new station for the Metro Police. Roads were tarred, basic services were expanded.

Now all this progress is threatened once more by the reinstatement of the ANC/EFF coalition of corruption in this metro. This is a step backwards, towards neglect, towards poverty and towards unemployment.

Fellow South Africans, we need to move forward as a country, not backwards. And to do so we need a government that looks to the future, not the past. There is only one party that can be this government, and that party is the Democratic Alliance.

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DA to take unlawful removal of NMB Mayor Trollip on legal review

The following remarks were delivered today by Democratic Alliance (DA) Leader, Mmusi Maimane, at a press conference in Cape Town. Maimane was joined by DA Federal Chairperson, Athol Trollip, and DA National Spokesperson, Solly Malatsi.

In 2016, the DA-led coalition government consisting of coalition partners DA, ACDP, COPE, and UDM – and later the PA – set out to eradicate corruption, deliver basic services and ensure people of Nelson Mandela Bay were able to find work. Throughout the challenges faced, we have seen many successes and shown real progress in delivering services to the people of NMB.

Yesterday, the people of Nelson Mandela Bay witnessed the newly formed coalition of corruption between the ANC, UDM and EFF banding together to undermine the will of the electorate by unlawfully removing its duly elected DA-led coalition government. This was a mock council meeting that elected a mock government, and we are of the view that yesterday’s proceedings are invalid in law.

The motivation for this unscrupulous move is clear: for the ANC, UDM and the EFF to gain unfettered access to public funds in order to fill their own pockets and their party coffers ahead of the 2019 national elections. This criminal behavior is well documented in Crispian Olver’s book, How to Steal a City. It is an attempt to steal the city back.

The scapegoat, too, is clear: the colour of Athol Trollip’s skin. This despite the incredible work the DA-led coalition government has done over the past 24 months to better the lives of the people of NMB by speeding up the delivery of basic services.

We categorically denounce this move and call it out for what it was – a political coup by this coalition of corruption hellbent on re-establishing patronage networks that enrich the few at the expense of the many. It is also disgraceful that the UDM – who forms part of the official coalition agreement that governs NMB – showed complete disregard for this agreement and voted with the ANC and the EFF in a new coalition of corruption. This is a party with 2% of the vote, and certainly does not have a mandate from the people of NMB.

Following consultation with our legal team, we have resolved to take council’s decision to remove Athol Trollip as Executive Mayor on legal review as we are of the opinion that the sitting was procedurally invalid and lacked legitimate authority to legally elect a new Speaker, and then subsequently pass the Motion of No Confidence in the Executive Mayor.

Specifically, Section 36(3) of the Municipal Structures Act (117 of 1998) states that:

“The municipal manager of the municipality or, if the municipal manager is not available, a person designated by the MEC for local government in the province, presides over the election of a speaker” (Emphasis added)

Following the removal of Speaker Jonathan Lawack, the Municipal Manager, Johann Mettler had adjourned the council sitting as quorum had been broken. Subsequent to that, the Eastern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Fikile Xasa, erroneously invoked Section 36(3) and designated an individual to preside over two decisions:

  1. The election of ANC Councillor, Buyelwa Mafaya, as Speaker; and
  2. The Motion of No Confidence in Executive Mayor, Athol Trollip.

Despite the fact that the Municipal Manager was both present and not incapacitate to preside over the sitting, he was denied his role by MEC Xasa and the person designated by him. This is in contravention of the clear requirements of the Municipal Structures Act and therefore renders the election of Buyelwa Mafaya as Speaker, and the subsequent Motion of No Confidence in Athol Trollip as invalid in law.

This coalition of corruption was also able to turn a DA councillor, Victor Manyathi, against us. They preyed on his legal and financial vulnerability to lure him into treachery. We have in any case served him notice of intention to cessate his DA membership.

The battle in NMB is between those who want to steal public money to make themselves rich, and those who are committed to ensuring public money is directed to creating work, building houses and roads, and delivering a clean, delivery-oriented government that serves all the people. Former President Jacob Zuma publicly admitted this when addressing the ANC’s Amathole regional conference in the Eastern Cape in 2017, stating that:

“Of all the metros, I won’t talk about the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, because you know all about it. We ruined it for years, bit by bit. Now the opposition is in charge. We cannot say we are surprised by that.”

And just last month, ANC Treasurer in the NMB Region, Mbulelo Gidane, alluded to the party’s dire financial situation in the region as follows:

“Let me scare you immediately – asinamali [we do not have money]. We are currently sitting at a deficit. Financially‚ our situation is critically bad.”

The EFF, UDM and other similar small parties have actively attempted to hand Nelson Mandela Bay back to the very thieves and crooks who had previously brought the metro to its knees. They will have to answer to the voters for this.

During the DA-led coalition government’s 24 months in government, great strides were made in turning iBhayi around and making real progress. This includes:

  • 12 000 residents receiving running water and flush toilets in their homes for the very first time;
  • The establishment of NMB’s first ever Metro Police Force, with two satellite stations in KwaNobuhle and Bethelsdorp, and 135 officers who have attended to over 25 000 crime fighting interactions;
  • Eradicating 60% of the 16 000 bucket toilets inherited from the previous ANC government;
  • Reducing gang related crime by 11% in Helenvale and surrounding areas over the past 6 months, due mainly to new Shot-spotter technology;
  • Bringing the city to its best financial position in 10 years, with a surplus of R2 billion and a recently received AAA credit rating;
  • Exposing and stopping corruption on contracts to the tune of R615 million;
  • Tripling the number of EPWP jobs created annually; and
  • Ensuring the city’s IPTS bus service is up and running, with busses on the road and serving the people.

This battle is far from over. We will not relent in our efforts to keep the hands of the corrupt cabal off of the people’s money in NMB. Athol Trollip and his coalition government have begun the work in stopping corruption, delivering better services and creating jobs. This work will continue.

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ANC, UDM and EFF vote together to bring corruption back to Nelson Mandela Bay

In today’s council sitting, the ANC, UDM and EFF banded together and supported a Motion of No Confidence to remove the DA-led coalition administration in Nelson Mandela Bay, removing both Mayor Athol Trollip and Speaker Jonathan Lawack. This decision by the unholy alliance of the ANC, EFF and UDM is in order to fill their own party coffers with public funds and bring looting back ahead of the 2019 elections. The ANC and the EFF have rejected the will of the people in favour of enriching themselves.

The ANC lost Nelson Mandela Bay in 2016 as the people of the Bay finally fired them after two decades of brazen corruption. Since then, the DA-led government has turned the tide on corruption and ensured the people’s money is spent on benefitting the people of Nelson Mandela Bay

However, the ANC, UDM and EFF have today united around a shared interest – eating public funds designed to create work and deliver services to the people. This matter is quite simple. It is a battle between those who want to plunder state resources for themselves and their friends and those who are working tirelessly to empower the citizens of our nation.

The DA-led government has already made a huge difference in Nelson Mandela Bay. In just 24 months in office, the DA-led government achieved the following successes:

• The City is now financially liquid with over R2 billion in the bank and recently received a AAA credit rating;
• Achieved annual financial statements that indicate the administration has achieved record levels of spending in the financial year 2017/18;
• Installed the first ever metro police force, with 135 fully trained officers who have attended to over 25 000 crime fighting interactions;
• Boasts one of the best Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) spending performances in the country at 97% this year;
• Has successfully exposed and stopped corruption on contracts to the tune of R615 million, eradicated 9046 bucket toilets, resurfaced 55 820 square metres of road and managed to triple the number of annual jobs created by the EPWP (Expanded Public Works Program);
• Significantly improved turnaround times on administrative functions such as building plan approval and rates clearance transactions;
• The Thusong Centre in Motherwell was completed and opened within a year after R12 million was spent, a total of 5439 EPWP jobs were created and 646 streetlights installed in a number of areas;
• The Shot-spotter technology installed in Helenvale also proved to be a great success and within 90 days of its installation, gunshots were reduced by 90%; and
• IPTS busses are on the road, and the highly secured Clearly Park Bus Depot has been completed.

Every day the DA is in government is a threat to the corrupt and divisive politics of the ANC¸UDM and EFF. They know that residents are experiencing a real alternative under DA-led governments, corruption is being eradicated, services are delivered, and opportunity is being created for all.

We call on all South Africans to punish the ANC, UDM and EFF at the ballot box in 2019. They have stolen the will of the people of Nelson Mandela Bay and brought back corruption to a city that rejected the ANC just two years ago.

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The people of Nelson Mandela Bay chose CHANGE

In Nelson Mandela Bay, the coalition government has had all the odds stacked against them from day one. But in the face of adversity, a budget that focused on low-income communities, housing and informal settlement upgrades, roads, lights and community facilities was passed.

The First Metro Police Service

Prudent budgeting enabled the first Metro Police Service in the Eastern Cape to have been launched in Nelson Mandela Bay to tackle the scourge of crime in the City. Working closely with the South African Police Service (SAPS), they have seen to an 11% decrease in gang-related crimes in the City’s most dangerous communities such as Helenvale where a pilot project with Shot Spotter has improved response times and seen a number of critical arrests made.

The service has grown to 135 officers and 38 patrol vehicles with a specialised bicycle unit, ghost squad and bylaw enforcement unit in operation. It has been such a success that the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Police Department’s Annual Police Plan format was adopted as the blueprint to be used by all Metro Police Departments nationwide.

Fighting Corruption

In two years, the rooting out of corrupt senior officials, securing and monitoring of SCM offices and opening up of the Bid Adjudication Committee (BIC) to the public has turned around the City’s finances and SCM and ensured that every penny is accounted for. The City is now liquid with over R2 billion in the bank, has a steadily rising collection rate and achieves some of the best capital expenditure in the country.

NMB recently received a AAA credit rating and a windfall Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) allocation of R178.8 million on top of the R911 million received at the beginning of the financial year. The City has succeeded in spending close to R1.1 billion on capital works that has directly improve the lives of the poor and made for better service delivery.

A Pro-People Budget

Services such as the Assistance to the Poor (ATTP) will see recipients receive R2 billion over the medium term, while R1.5 million is going to be spent on informal trading (EDTA) infrastructure. Almost half a billion rand has been apportioned to upgrading housing and informal settlements, human settlement projects, a bucket eradication programme, informal housing and electrification programmes. To date 9 000 of the 16 000 bucket toilets inherited from the previous ANC government have been eradicated.

Delivering Better Services

To ensure the safety of their roads, more than half a billion rand has been put aside for roads and lighting. In addition to this, R150 million has been reserved for the upgrading and development of community facilities like Multi-Purpose Centres, libraries, sports facilities, parks and open public spaces.

One of the greatest privileges one can ever be entrusted with is a mandate from the people to serve and it is these DA-led governments’ past two years of service to the residents of these great cities that we should all be celebrating today.

– DA Leader, Mmusi Maimane

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Mandela Bay passes 2018-19 pro-poor budget with some of the lowest tariffs in a decade

During today’s Council meeting the 2018/19 budget was passed. This is the second budget passed by the new coalition government and is one which will bring more change to the lives of the people of Nelson Mandela Bay.

The current budget is strongly pro-poor and will help address the needs of the City’s most neglected communities which were severely under-resourced under the previous ANC-led government.

This budget also provides significant relief for the rate payers of the City in recognition of the difficult economic climate the whole country is facing, epitomizing how good, clean governance can do a lot more with less. Some of the highlights of this budget are provided below.

Pro-poor spending

Continued funding of the Assistance to the Poor programme (ATTP) over R2.2 billion over the MTREF Period;

Acquisition of Land for housing development of R45 million in addition to various Human Settlements Projects with a budget of R183.4 million; and

R30 million over the MTREF to continue to eradicate bucket toilets (including the historic backlog).

Spending to improve roads:

* R68.5 million over MTREF on resurfacing of tar Roads

* R298.5 million over the MTREF on the tarring of gravel roads (Project ID 200

* R40 million over the MTREF on the rehabilitation of roads

This ends a tumultuous period in the Metro as the opposition parties in the council, comprising of the ANC, United Front and the EFF, made four attempts to block the passing of the budget, a move designed to put the City under administration.

Today’s passing of the budget will ensure that the coalition government gets on with the business of putting the people of the City first. We would like to thank all of our coalition and voting partners for their commitment to providing service delivery and improving the lives of the poor and vulnerable of the City.

It is regrettable that EFF and ANC councillors chose not to be present today – nonetheless, our mandate is to bring visible change in Mandela Bay and we will not be deterred in our attempts to deliver better services to all.

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100 new bicycles to improve safety and create jobs in NMB

Last week, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality distributed 50 Qhubeka bicycles, matched by a further 50 from Volkswagen South Africa, at a ceremony hosted by Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Executive Mayor Athol Trollip.

The bicycles funded by NMBM are for 50 new city ambassadors who will act as “peace officers” and play a pivotal role in the safety and security apparatus of the municipality for the 2018 Ironman 70.3 World Championship.

The project should go way beyond the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in September to ensure continuous programmes and intensified participation in cycling. We acknowledge that we are faced with an increased challenge with the safety and security of athletes, particularly on cycling routes.

– Nelson Mandela Bay Mayor, Athol Trollip

The additional 50 bicycles from Volkswagen SA will be distributed to 30 beach officers and 20 tourism ambassadors. The community impact is a total of 100 new jobs that pay a decent monthly living wage.  Bicycle recipients have been selected based on specific criteria that include being unemployed and aged between 18 and 35 years old.

You can read the full story here

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PE College students vote for change

The student representative council (SRC) elections held at Port Elizabeth College on Thursday was a significant accomplishment for the DA Students’ Organisation (DASO) as, for the first time ever, SASCO, could not win a majority in the SRC.

DASO and SASCO each claimed five seats while the EFF won two seats on the council. This follows a month after DASO took total control of the SRC at the University of Fort Hare.

These results show that the youth of the Eastern Cape are able to find a home in the DA and will put their trust in the party.

The DA congratulates DASO for bringing change to PE College and would like to thank all the students who came out to support the DA.

DASO will now work tirelessly to champion the pressing issues facing PE College students.

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By-election results show that the people of NMB want continued Total Change

The Democratic Alliance (DA) would like to thank the people of Ward 1 in Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) for their remarkable support in yesterday’s by-election.
The people of NMB have clearly illustrated that they want the DA-led multiparty and Mayor Athol Trollip to continue with its programme of bringing Total Change to the Metro through job creation, service delivery and the elimination of corruption.
In 2016, the DA won Ward 1 with an 85% majority; that majority has now crescendoed to 92%.
Those who are working actively to divide NMB on the basis of race and hand back the metro to liars and looters do not believe in the democratic will of the people.
It is clear that the motion of no confidence against the coalition and Mayor Trollip serves to reverse the progress made since 2016 and create an environment where corruption thrives.
Since taking office, the DA-led coalition has made significant progress. Some of the highlights include:
• The elimination of bucket toilets
• Filling vacancies in order to improve service delivery
• The establishment of a Metro Police Department
• An internship programme in the Mayor’s Office for young people
• Accelerated title deed handover programme
The DA and its coalition partners in the Bay will continue working around the clock to positively change the lives of the people.

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

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.