Statement by Sam Shabane, GOOD National Chairperson
30 June 2021
The further downgrade of the City of Tshwane by rating agency Moody’s to four notches below investment grade, the second downgrade in three months, is a bugle call for urgent and drastic intervention.
If the DA-led city administration is left to mismanage the city until after local government elections in October – or later, depending on Covid and the IEC – there will be virtually nothing left for a newly elected administration to re-build on.
Despite the considerable risks of putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop, so to speak, the most practical intervention is for the DA-led city to be placed under the administration of the provincial government.
It is true that the DA is not the sole author of Tshwane’s demise, it was a job begun by its ANC predecessors. But, now, the city must be stopped from expiring altogether.
Placing Tshwane under provincial administration is the lesser of two evils. It’s a short-term bandage to stem the blood-flow and stabilise the patient. Then voters must decide, in October, who they want to lead the recovery.
The Gauteng Executive Council must place Tshwane under administration, as it did 15 months ago.
This time, the province must do the job properly. It must ensure there is a flawless process, and leave no technical loopholes for the DA to exploit in court – and wriggle back into power.
There were good reasons why the city was placed under administration last year. Those reasons persist. Things haven’t got any better; they’ve only got worse.
Residents of Tshwane feel the neglect every day. Examples are too numerous to mention: here are a few:
• In mid-June pensioners from Soshanguve marched on Council to demand service delivery.
• Some areas in Soshanguve go for days without a water.
• The elderly in Tshwane West have been waiting endlessly for title deeds which the municipality is refusing to provide.
• Tshwane West residents are being unlawfully charged for repairs to street sewers.
• Sinkholes are left unattended putting lives and livelihoods of Atteridgeville residents at risk.
Filthy streets, informal rubbish dumps, blocked drains, potholes, water cut-offs, sewerage…
A clear pattern: Tshwane is shutting down.
Ends…