ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile has stirred the pot in Khayelitsha township as the party gears up for its anniversary rally, accusing the DA-run city and province of neglecting the township residents in favour of more affluent suburbs.
Mashatile also suggested that the national government was intervening because the provincial government was not serving poor communities.
The ANC event has drawn attention to perceived inequalities in service distribution between historically black communities and wealthier, predominantly white suburbs.
Zille retaliates to allegations of neglect
But DA federal council chairperson Helen Zille refuted these claims. She made reference to the party’s commitment to equitable service delivery. In retaliation, she took to social media to staunchly defend the party’s track record in the city.
Zille accused Mashatile of employing diversion tactics to garner support in Khayelitsha.
“The assertion that the DA-run city and province only deliver services to the suburbs and neglect places like Khayelitsha is patently untrue,” Zille stated.
She argued that the DA’s governance prioritises providing essential services to poor communities, often surpassing the efforts of any ANC-led government in the country.
Zille emphasised that the DA rather focuses more on the poor communities. She claimed that they were better performing than the ANC government across the country.
“We do not steal money and we spend it on what the constitution requires us to deliver to people. This raises the question: what does the constitution require local and prov government to deliver? There is this this delusion that the DA built and maintains Camps Bay and other wealthy suburbs to their current standards.
Basic services
“This is not true. Local residents did that. The job of local government is to provide basic services. These are drinkable water, electricity, sewage systems, refuse removal, functional streets, drainage and streetlights, and subsidies for public transport. DA governments do this much better than any others in the country,” said Zille.
She said the DA prioritised granting basic services to indigent communities as compared to suburbs. And she added that some of these services are free. She said for communities to look better, it was the responsibility of its residents to take responsibility. To stop littering, dumping and vandalisation of infrastructure. And to maintain the thousands of free houses that have been allocated.
She further advised that residents should avoid throwing refuse and plastic waste down drains. This causes flooding, while disposing baby nappies and other household waste destroys the sewage system.
Zille emphasised that it would be unsustainable to feed the idea that government needs to provide housing for everyone. This considering that South Africa had 62 million people but only 7.5 million registered taxpayers.
With this ratio, she said if people received free houses, it would bankrupt municipalities.
Zille also discouraged the land invasions on unserviced and unserviceable land in attempt to skip housing queues. She believes that this behaviour guarantees establishment of permanent slums.
It was rather important to discourage teenage pregnancy and encourage the youth to be educated, she said. They should be skilled and have jobs/careers before starting a family. Moreover, she said fathers should be effectively responsible in their children’s lives.
Health and education
Regarding the role of the provincial government, Zille said its two main functions were health and education.
“There are more clinics within comfortable walking distance in Western Cape than any other province. The provincial government spends hugely on building new schools for pupils moving to the Western Cape,” said Zille.
“So, anyone who says that we only deliver services to the suburbs is lying. Including the Deputy President (which is disgraceful). In fact, the middle class massively subsidise the [impoverished] where DA governs. We do so because it is the right thing to do. Don’t insult us as a result.”
