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There can be no change in NMB without a change of Government

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Dear MyPE

Only the DA has a proven track record of good governance, where excellent services are delivered, jobs are created and corruption is stopped. It is for this reason that the DA can win Nelson Mandela Bay, as confirmed this week by IPSOS.

The ANC has revealed that they are not serious about creating jobs, stopping corruption or delivering better services, by announcing the ‘broken promises mayor’, Danny Jordaan, as their mayoral candidate for Nelson Mandela Bay.

Mayor Jordaan is the 4th ANC mayor in 7 years. Changing ANC Mayors has just delivered more of the same corrupt ANC governance. Real change can only come by changing the government on 03 August 2016.

6 months after ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa promised to make public the Bay’s mayoral candidate, the DA can reveal that the ANC has chosen to field a candidate who has let down the people of Nelson Mandela Bay since coming into office a year ago.

  • Mayor Jordaan tried to trick the people of the Bay by launching a fake metro police force, using only 2% of the recommended costing budget, which infringed various clauses contained in Chapter 12 of the Police Services Act:
  • Many officers do not meet minimum education and training requirements.
  • Some officers may have criminal records.
  • Despite frequent promises to roll out weekly refuse collection in all wards, there are still 129 684 households that do not receive this most basic of services. This only exacerbates the scourge of illegal dumping, and prevents our people from living in clean, dignified spaces.
  • Since Mayor Jordaan, President Zuma and Minister Mokonyane’s August 2015 launch of the publicity stunt entitled “war on leaks”, the Metro has lost over R320 million to water leaks and electricity theft. There have been no artisans or additional plumbers assigned to any wards, and the Metro loses approximately 45 billion litres of drinking water to leaks every year.
  • The fight against corruption remains a pipe dream as those officials implicated in fraud sit at home on full pay, while Mayor Jordaan actually employs corruption into the Bay with the recent appointment of criminal Linda Mti. Not a single criminal charge has been laid against anyone, and no one is in jail.
  • Without any forward-thinking job-creation policies, it is no wonder that 21 000 more residents are now unemployed people since December 2015, taking the total to 173 000.
  • Mayor Jordaan clearly has no plan to create jobs and instead offered platitudes about the next 5 years, when as we speak the basics of short-term job creation are still not in place. Rampant corruption, political meddling and incompetence plague the EPWP, SMME and other informal employment project networks, evidenced by the suspension of various construction projects.
  • It is a tragedy that Nelson Mandela Bay is the most racially-segregated Metro in South Africa, due in part to the government’s inability to spend money on infrastructure. With a maintenance backlog of over R23 billion, the legacy of our past will remain a reality for hundreds of thousands of residents.
  • There are still approximately 30 000 bucket toilets in Nelson Mandela Bay, because this municipality doesn’t care enough to provide dignified sanitation to our people.

When Mayor Jordaan said on the 26th May 2016 at a council meeting that “people must stop worrying about non-functioning street lights, potholes or whether garbage is collected”, I realised once and for all that this ANC mayor simply doesn’t care for basic service delivery, as was the case with all his predecessors.

In a broad swipe at the people of the Bay after an important presentation on land reform, Mayor Jordaan proceeded to rant about “people going around who seem fixated by these issues,” exposing himself as being far removed from the hardships of our people.

I challenge the ANC’s candidate to come out of hiding and debate me on his poor track record, so that the people can make an informed decision on which administration they want – more of the same, or a government that will take this Metro forward again.

Only the DA has a diverse and capable team of candidates ready to lead the bay, to take this Metro forward again. When in government, we will work to improve service delivery, stop corruption and create jobs, because the time of broken promises is over.

Regards

Athol Trollip

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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.