Under failing ANC jobs and services are non-existent in Mahikeng
24 October 2018
This week, as part of my listening tour across the North West, I engaged with community members from Danville and Lomanyaneng, in Mahikeng’s Ward 17.
The service delivery concerns that they raised clearly showed that the failing ANC has abandoned the people.
Unemployment in Ward 17 remains disproportionately high, especially among the youth. The unemployment crisis has also hit vulnerable groups such as our Gogos who have to support their extended families from the little pensions that they receive.
Of major concern to the elderly, is that their children and grandchildren will never find a job.
Ward 17 residents are also made to deal with raw sewage which flows freely down the streets and open velds, exposing children and domestic animals to water borne diseases.
In Lomanyaneng, for example, there is no tarred road and the delivery of basic services has completely collapsed.
The failing ANC continues to deny residents the chance to be homeowners. I met with an 82 year-old man who has been waiting for the title deed to his home for more than a decade.
Another resident, a widow, informed me that she has been waiting since 1997 for a title deed to her home. The house was allocated to her late husband and she is now worried there could be no record that it was ever in her husband’s name.
I was also shocked to note that the Danville High School does not have water supply, no sports equipment and offers no sporting activities at all. The school grounds are always flooded with sewage and the toilet facilities are either dilapidated or non-functional.
The sports stadium that was demolished after 1994 was never rebuilt, despite a payment of R5 million to five contractors, confirming that there is tender-fraud and corruption are rife in the local municipality.
The Ward 17 community has been neglected by the failing ANC-government to a point of utter desperation. The people here are ready for change, during my many conversations, residents here are increasingly considering voting DA.
The DA remains at the forefront of the battle for better service delivery. Where the DA governs we deliver quality basic services to all, improving the lives of people, especially the poor by reducing poverty and inequality and creating jobs.
The DA is ready to change the circumstances of ward 17 residents through clean and transparent governance.
Ward 17 residents have an opportunity in 2019 to choose a DA-run administration that will improve their quality of life and speed up the delivery of quality basic services.
Issued by Joe McGluwa, DA North West Premier Candidate, 24 October 2018
