MEC rejects paralysis jibes

THE ANC says its concerned at the “paralysis” of some municipalities in the province, but authorities hit back, saying they stepped in wherever problems arose.

ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said the DA was in a state of disarray as a result of their battle with mayor Patricia de Lille.

This comes after the Hawks launched several investigations in some DA-led municipalities including Oudtshoorn, George and the Kannaland Council ruled by the ANC and DA “working agreement”.

Said Jacobs: “De Lille is the mayor of the metro which is home to 60% of the Western Cape population… The same DA is battling with four more municipalities.

“In Stellenbosch Municipality is an added challenge, where the DA is in a battle with the council speaker. The DA has taken a misguided and destructive stunt over the last few months to harass its mayors whom it views as hostile to federal executive interests, which are almost always not aligned with the interests of local residents.”

Jacobs said this left the ANC with one choice: “to call on national government to visit these municipalities and where forensic investigations are necessary, for those to be instituted without delay”.

But Anton Bredell, MEC for Local Government, said a StatisticsSA report into municipalities found the Western Cape showed the highest proportion of consumer units that benefited from the country’s policy to provide free basic services.

“It must also be noted that in 2009, there wasn’t a single clean audit in the Western Cape. We believe that the public places more value in the independent reports of institutions like these, rather than in a statement released by an opposition party months before a national election,” said Bredell.