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Community Business Directory, Event Listings, News and Views from Gqeberha, Nelson Mandela Bay

60 wards in 30 days

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The following is an extract from a speech delivered by DA Mayoral Candidate for Nelson Mandela Bay, Athol Trollip at the Feather Market Hall on the 1st June 2016, to mark 9 weeks until Election 2016:

Over the next 30 days, I will return to every single ward in Nelson Mandela Bay taking the DA’s offer of change to our people.

Since launching our campaign over 9 months ago, I have traversed the Metro, engaging with tens of thousands of people on issues that matter to them. Two things are clear above all else: Our Metro needs change and the DA can win!

During my 60 wards in 60 days tour, we worked tirelessly to understand the issues of our people. We will now return to every ward with solutions to the Bay’s issues, by proposing the DA’s offer of change.

Why is Nelson Mandela Bay renowned for hiring convicted criminals, R2 billion wasteful expenditure, water losses, collapsing infrastructure and countless bucket toilets?

Why do we suffer collapsing roads and RDP houses, 50% youth unemployment, and murderous gangsterism and crime?

These things persist, because promises are broken over and over again under this administration. There is no passion and energy and commitment to solving problems, and instead there is a general lack of accountability.

The current ANC administration is quickly backing itself into a precarious corner as it scrambles to cover up 20 years of horrific ANC governance; delivery of a fake metro police service, a criminal appointment to the Head of Safety and Security, no-shows at important debates, no eradication of bucket toilets, no weekly refuse collection in all wards and frequent no-shows at important meetings.

But there is hope – we will see the Metro moving forward again after this year’s local government election because the DA can win.

Today we launch a new phase of our campaign where we ask you, the voters, to Stand Up For Change! Because in order to get this Metro moving forward again, every resident needs to stand up and be counted.

Jobs must be created by investing in infrastructure led growth that provides the environment conducive to private sector investment. Through the creation of a fair and comprehensive Expanded Public Works Programme, thousands more people will be able to access employment opportunities.

Working with local small and micro enterprises, business chambers and regional economic development agencies, a DA-led government in NMB will promote local businesses regionally and nationally.

In the DA-led Midvaal Local Municipality, unemployment is the lowest of any Gauteng municipality because where the DA governs, jobs are created.

It will be crucial to resurrect the broken Integrated Public Transport System and make use of a ‘Smart‘ ticket system which allows commuters to use all forms of public transport with one ticket.

The Go George rapid bus transport system in the DA-led George Local Municipality transports hundreds of thousands of people a month, connecting the city and driving opportunity. This is the same story we should be telling in NMB.

A DA-led government will work with the private and non-profit sectors to ensure that a range of housing opportunities are available for different income levels and will speed up delivery of title deeds to state-subsidised housing so that recipients have legal ownership of their homes.

Between 2012 and 2015, the DA-run City of Cape Town handed over 14 200 title deeds to first-time home owners, because the DA cares about providing housing opportunities to the poor.

Government must be responsive and forward-thinking by attracting the next generation of municipal officials through graduate recruitment programmes.

Service delivery gives our people dignified spaces in which to live. Fixing potholes, weekly refuse collection in every ward, maintaining all municipal roads, providing access to electricity, potable water and sanitation will be priorities for the DA in government here in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Where the DA governs, people have the highest access to services with 98.9% access to water, 87.6% access to electricity and 96.4% access to sanitation because improving service delivery is a priority for DA governments.

Corruption is the gatekeeper of freedom for many people in the Bay. The DA will establish an effective system to process complaints and to report corruption. Government staff will be appointed fairly, based on the value that they add, councillors and other public representatives will be excluded from EPWP recruitment and the tender process will be open at the adjudication stage.

Establishing and maintaining inclusive community amenities and spaces is the first step towards achieving redress. By connecting people from diverse backgrounds through efficient, affordable, safe and reliable public transport, we will begin to move forward again. We must also ensure that urban planning and zoning considers the integration of different communities and income levels.

We need to make our communities safe by introducing an effective and properly-trained metro police service, with specialised units that focus on priority crimes like gangsterism and drugs.

By standing up for change, the people of Nelson Mandela Bay can vote for a government that delivers better services, stops corruption and creates jobs.

The DA is ready to govern!

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Port Elizabethan

This author is a 'catch-all' for occasional articles and letters written to MyPE. The Author of each article can be found in the signature at the bottom of each individual article.