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The people of Inxuba Yethemba Municipality demand better services

By

Dear MyPE

Hundreds of residents joined me on the streets of Cradock today, to hand over a memorandum to the Municipal Manager of the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality (IYLM), Mr Xolela Msweli , demanding access to better basic services.

The DA Eastern Cape Shadow MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA), Vicky Knoetze, MPL, will now deliver the memorandum to the Eastern MEC of CoGTA, Xolile Nqatha, and the standing committee on public participation, petitions, and education in the provincial legislature.

Service delivery in the Inxuba Yethemba Local Municipality, and especially in the towns of Cradock en Middelburg, has come to a virtual standstill and residents are suffering.

The Municipality must immediately find solutions to the following service delivery and political failures in the IYLM:

  • The lack of political will to remove the deeply compromised mayor, Cllr Ray Shweni, from his post. He remains even though the municipality found that he must be removed
  • The municipality owes Eskom over R130 million and the utility is threatening to switch the electricity off.
  • The dire financial state of IYLM and the inability to address and stop corruption.
  • Overspending and continued use of outsourced services despite having staff members employed to perform the functions.
  • The unstable electrical network, broken streetlights and the inability of IYLM to curb distribution losses and theft.
  • Crumbling road infrastructure and blocked stormwater drains.
  • Erratic refuse removal and illegal dumping sites across wards.
  • Political appointments in the offices of the Mayor and Speaker and in the office of the ANC Chief Whip, and cash purchases of luxury vehicles for the Mayor and Speaker.
  • The Municipal Manager and the Chief Financial Officer do not have the minimum competencies to hold office.
  • Failure to address and implement the recommendations of a recent Public Protector report regarding the misappropriation of municipal funds.

According to the Municipal Systems Act any municipality must:

  • Give priority to the basic needs of the local community;
  • Promote the development of the local community; and
  • Ensure that all members of the local community have access to at least the minimum level of basic municipal services.

The IYLM seems to be breaking all the rules when it comes to service delivery.

The DA, on behalf of the residents of the IYLM, demands immediate action taken to address these shortcomings.

The DA is committed to ensuring that all South Africans receive the municipal services they are entitled to, and that good governance is the norm, rather than the exception.

Regards

Retief Odendaal, MPL
EC Midlands Constituency Leader

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