Sol Plaatje must turn streetlights on for festive season
by Andrew Louw – DA Northern Cape Premier Candidate
Date: 29 October 2018
Release: Immediate
Note to Editors: Find attached sound bites from DA Northern Cape Premier Candidate, Andrew Louw, in English and Afrikaans
The Democratic Alliance will report the Kai !Garib Local Municipality’s persistent failure to provide dignified sanitation to the Public Protector.
Along with provincial chair Harold McGluwa and local councillor Chrisjan Markgraaff, I engaged with residents of the Chris Hani settlement in Kenhardt as part of my Listening Tour. The community took us on a walk through the area and showed us the inhumane, unhygienic and unsanitary conditions the uncaring ANC government subjects them to.
Pit toilets were removed years ago, but never replaced with acceptable alternatives. Because there are no toilets, residents have to use the bushes to relieve themselves. This is a big safety risk, especially for young children and women who have to walk around alone at night in the dark. The health of residents is being compromised, as streams and pools of raw sewage formed in the fields creates the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera.
It is again evident that the failing ANC does not know how to use public funds to the benefit of the people. Money was allocated through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant to establish dignified sanitation for residents, but was never utilized. Indeed, the municipality’s Annual Financial Statements showed that it had more than R8.8 million in unspent funds allocated through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant alone.
It is not that there isn’t money to deliver basic services, but that the failing ANC does not use the money correctly! Perhaps this should come as no surprise, given that the municipal manager is underqualified and that maladministration and corruption is at the order of the day at the municipality.
We have already reported the matter to the Northern Cape department of COGHSTA as well as the South African Human Rights Commission, but no steps have been taken to resolve the problem. Our pleas to the premier for intervention in the failing municipality has also fallen on deaf ears. It is clear that the ANC cannot deliver services to people, but can only make empty promises.
The community is up in arms and did not mince their words, especially not the former supporters of the ANC who are saying they need change. The change they need can only be brought by the DA, because it is only the DA which can and will speed up the delivery of basic services to our people – irrespective of their political affiliations.
You can download the pictures here, here and here
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DA Northern Cape Premier Candidate
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