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The spokespeople of the poor

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During a budget debate in the Nelson Mandela Bay Council today ANC Councillor Andile Mfunda referred to the DA as “the spokespeople of the poor” after the DA called for a pro poor budget that is progressive and speaks to the needs of all the residents of the Metro.

The DA, in our submission to Council stated that the 2014/15 budget must be “unashamedly and unambiguously pro poor”. We acknowledged that Nelson Mandela Bay is a better place to live today than it was before 1994 but that progress has stalled under the current administration of Jacob Zuma’s ANC.

The DA’s support for the budget is conditional on a number of issues, including but not limited to:

  • The inclusion of weekly refuse collection in every ward across the Metro;
  • A plan to fund a programme to eradicate the bucket system within two years; and
  • Implement the operational efficiency plan to recover losses on water (R208.4 million) and electricity (R200 million).

The DA will continue to support all efforts to ensure that the 2014/15 budget is unambiguously pro poor to ensure that Nelson Mandela Bay becomes a caring city that delivers to the poorest communities.

In the DA-led Western Cape government 76% of the provincial budget is allocated to poor communities. The Western Cape has the highest access to water (99.1%), flush toilets (90.5%) and electricity (93.4%) in the country.

Nelson Mandela Bay deserves a budget that speaks to the needs of all its residents, particularly the poor. The DA will continue to highlight the plight of the most disadvantaged residents of our Metro and we will bring change to all communities in 2016 when we govern.

Andrew Whitfield

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Port Elizabethan

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