Note to Editors: Please find attached a soundbite in English by Makashule Gana. Photographs can be downloaded here, here, here and here.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply concerned with its findings after conducting a service delivery oversight inspection at the failing Maluti-A-Phofung Municipality in Qwa-Qwa, Free State. The service delivery shortfalls in this area begin with the fact that this municipality owes Eskom a shocking R2.8 billion.
This is the largest sum of debt owed to the power utility by any municipality. ANC-run municipalities such as Maluti-A-Phofung are the reason why taxpayers are continuously forced to bail out crippled state-owned entities with their hard-earned money.
This service delivery debt is one of many conditions revealing the failing ANC’s inability to govern and deliver services to the people of South Africa.
Furthermore, the people residing in the Maluti-A-Phofung municipality have been deprived of additional basic services such as provision of water and refuse collection, primarily due to financial rot in governance. Mabolela community residents communicated to us that even their toilets are seldom pumped clean by the municipality, causing daily blockages and overflowing sewers.
This is compounded by the fact that the SASSA offices in Phutaditjaba are closed early every day due to lack of water, leaving the most vulnerable members of society with limited access to their grants, and providing a very short window of opportunity to potential new beneficiaries and applicants.
Our oversight revealed that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s claims of a fully revamped Phutaditjaba Industrial Park are simply not true – the industrial park has no visible improvements or indication of job creation. Industrialists informed us that the park is often shut down and work is halted, due to the fact that there is no water or electricity. The DA will call on President Ramaphosa to provide clarity on what the Free State Development Corporation has done for the industrial park.
The ANC’s neglect of basic services is criminal, and President Ramaphosa is misleading the nation about the work that has been done in this community. This is further proof of the governing party’s empty promises. The people of Maluti-A-Phofung have been forgotten and abandoned by an uncaring ANC. Only a DA government will put the needs of all South Africans first and deliver services where they are desperately needed.