Degradation of Makana shocks DA ‘inspectors’
The ANC had broken municipalities across the province including Makana municipality, DA Eastern Cape leader Nqaba Bhanga said on Wednesday.
Bhanga led a delegation around Makana municipality on what the party termed an oversight inspection.
In Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown), Bhanga was shocked at the pollution and sewage in Sun City and Thatha informal settlements.
In Thatha, a river of sewage tinkles musically down a green valley into the Kowie ditch from where it flows into the once pristine Bloukrans/Amatyana River system, which in turn flows into the Kowie River.
Standing next to the river with his eyes watering from the smell, Bhanga said the citizens of Makhanda had had enough.
“Grahamstown is broken and citizens are saying ‘enough is enough’.”
He said the ANC did not build municipalities, it broke them.
“If you give the ANC an asset, they are going to destroy it.”
He urged people not to vote the ANC back into power.
“If they do, they are effectively signing a contract with government to get this,” he said gesturing at the river of faecal matter flowing behind him.
“The ANC destroys our water systems, destroys our electricity and sewage systems.”
The DA spokesperson on basic services, Makashule Gana, said no one could talk of a better life for all when sanitation and water was not properly provided. He warned that the sewage spills all around Makhanda would result in disease outbreak.
“There is a complete lack of will to improve living conditions. The result is that people will fall ill.”
The Sun City informal settlement, home to some 400
The ANC destroys our water systems, destroys our electricity and sewage systems
Nqaba Bhanga
people, is serviced by just two community taps, one of which is broken. Residents rely on the bucket system, but the municipality seldom empties the buckets.
The tap, which leaks incessantly creating a muddy hell hole around it, was also a source of ill-health, resident Irene Brown said.
The city has experienced an ongoing service delivery crisis, particularly with the collapsed sewage infrastructure and the failure to consistently provide water.