ANC has abandoned Nelson Mandela’s legacy

14 July 2016

There is a Kenyan proverb, which says that when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.

This proverb is true of Mogalakwena municipality.

Over the last five years the residents of Mogalakwena have been subjected to poor service delivery or no services at all as warring ANC factions battle it out for control over the municipality and its mineral resources.

Yet instead of dealing with this crisis, President Jacob Zuma instead chose to launch a racist attack on the DA.Why? Because both he and the ANC are running scared. 

The DA is growing across South Africa, and gaining momentum ahead of the 3 August local government elections. In many places across our country, from Nelson Mandela Bay to Tshwane, we can win – and bring the change we need to move South Africa forward again.

The truth is that the ANC has changed, having to rely on insults to try and maintain support. It is not the party of Nelson Mandela. In fact, it has betrayed Madiba’s legacy. Under Jacob Zuma, unemployment is on the rise, corruption is rampant, and service delivery is deteriorating. 

The DA is a party for all South Africans, committed to the Constitution and to realising Madiba’s legacy. Throughout this campaign, we have therefore spread our message of hope: that we can bring positive and real change, that will stop corruption, deliver better services and create the jobs our people need to live with dignity. 

We will not be distracted by Zuma’s last ditch efforts to divide our country. Our aim is to build a nation that Nelson Mandela dreamed of: one that is a prosperous and united in its diversity with a DA government that prioritises service delivery for all including those South Africans in Limpopo. 

In doing so, we today visited the Mogalakwena Municipal offices and found them heavily guarded by armed members ANC’s Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans Association (MKMVA).

There is a high court order by Judge J. Hiemstra, who has instructed the Municipality to re-instate the wrongfully removed employees of the Municipality to their positions after they were removed for supporting the ‘wrong’ ANC faction. The MKMVA has been assigned to bar these employees from returning to work. 

The DA was also kicked out of the offices when we went to enquire if service delivery.

If the ANC wins again this year, the municipality will have its fifth mayor in five years.

I can assure you that nothing will change.

The ANC of today is no longer the ANC of uTata Nelson Mandela.

It sees our municipalities as an opportunity to get rich, and have forgotten about their duty to the people who elected it. 

The fight in the ANC at the moment is over who will have the opportunity to plunder the resources of our municipalities. 

Mogalakwena is in one of the richest platinum belts in South Africa and its residents should be living quality lives.

It is heartbreaking that the people of Mogalakwena cannot benefit from the resources that are in the ground beneath them.

Many people of Mogalakwena continue to suffer.

Only 26% have access to flushing toilets, 69% use pit toilets;

Only 26% of people have jobs, over 74% are unemployed; 

64% have to use dumps for refuse, the municipality had to step in to collect refuse;

30% of residents do not have access to water.

These statistics are on a good day. 

When the factional battles get heated, as they have recently, services are cut off to communities that are deemed in support of a particular side of the faction. 

As the DA we have done our best to assist the people of Mogalakwena.  We have at some points, taken over service delivery when it came to a standstill. We delivered over a million liters of water to prevent the people of the municipality from dying from thirst, as well as taken over refuse removal for two months. 

But we cannot do much more than that unless we are voted into government. In order to turn this municipality around, we need to be in government.

I can assure you that the DA will come in like a clean broom and save Mogalakwena from the ANC vultures.

The Mogalakwena Municipality in Mokopane has forked out about R6 million to purchase four water tankers and related vehicles to deliver water to drought-stricken villages under its jurisdiction.

Mayor Parks Sebatjane said the 16 000 litre tankers will ferry water to 179 villagers hit by severe water shortages due to the low rain fall which resulted in a devastating drought.

The Mayor said National Treasury would release grants to the Water and Sanitation Department to address the water service backlog in his municipality.

This is only because it is during an election, outside of an election, service delivery will deteriorate again. 

Where the DA governs we are honest and responsive, will stop corruption, provide better services, and work hard to create many more jobs and opportunities for all.

The DA’s offer for the 2016 Local Government Election Campaign is therefore simple:  we want to bring change that will move South Africa forward again. This is change that will stop corruption, create jobs, and deliver better services for all.

Issued by Phumzile Van Damme, DA National Spokesperson, 14 July 2016