Bay coalition: the centre is not holding, or is it?
SUBSEQUENT to the local government elections last year on August 3, the Democratic Alliance won the elections in Nelson Mandela Bay with a total of 46.8% and the ANC trailing with a disappointing 40.3%, with other parties sharing the spoils with 12.9% collectively. Since these results were not sufficient for the DA to claim outright victory, coalition negotiations ensued and a while later small political parties led by the UDM merged with DA to form a coalition government.
A new leadership brewed, led by executive mayor Athol Trollip and deputy mayor Mongameli Bobani, which promised change.
This leadership promised to phase out corruption and maladministration, and phase in fast and efficient service delivery.
This brought hope to people who have been in dire need of service delivery and had been waiting on a previous administration that was embattled with scandals.
Another thing that brought hope was the masquerading fluent Xhosa-speaking Mr Trollip, who was up and down promising people that he would turn bricks into bread, which of course is impossible.
Soon after this political marriage took power, the honeymoon did not last long.
We were promised to see change within its first 100 days in office, and its first priorities were:
Secure R100-million in financial savings ( I don’t know if cutting jobs is saving money);
Appoint a permanent municipal manager and executive directors for electricity and energy, and human settlements;
Make a decision about the future of the IPTS bus system and source funding, if needed (bus system still not running);
Major leaks and antiquated infrastructure must be evaluated and the repairs re-prioritised (to date, the metro is still experiencing major water leaks);
Draft a new Integrated Development Plan (IDP) to include the coalition government’s manifestos (IDP meetings were a disaster, seemingly people were not happy with this new administration).
It was not long after this that the metro was in the dark – people had their electricity cut due to outstanding debts.
While I agree the municipality needs to recover revenue in order to provide services to people such as water and electricity, I think a different approach could have been better.
People should have been warned and the fact that the metro has so many unemployed people should have been taken into consideration. As a result of this cruel approach, approximately 1 500 residents marched to the city hall in protest against electricity cuts.
Signs of cracks in this political marriage started to show when the UDM led by the defiant Bobani decided not to attend a council meeting, in protest over recruitment of a city manager and the contract extension of corporate services acting executive director Vuyo Zitumane.
Subsequent to that their political principals ordered them to Cape Town, where they “resolved their differences”, both Trollip and Bobani.
In a desperate attempt to gain publicity, we saw on our televisions and on social media that mayor Trollip, accompanied by his deputy, visited an initiation school after one initiate died.
“Ufuna ntoni lona apha (What does he want here)?” That was my first reaction – my question still remain, why didn’t the mayor deploy his deputy to visit the school? People in the metro will always view that visit as a publicity stunt.
Now what we see and read every month in our newspapers, it’s deputy mayor vs Johann Mettler, Vuyo Zitumane and mayor Athol Trollip.
In an astonishing newspaper article with the headline, “Bobani attacks Trollip style”, the deputy mayor expressed his disgust in the manner in which the mayor runs this metro.
He further stated in the article that the “municipality was being run like someone’s farm” and that he was not in coalition government “to be a disrespected wife” – a direct attack on his senior.
The following week he invited an army of journalists and laid corruption charges against Mettler and Zitumane.
This past week, we are seeing scenes of pandemonium at Helenvale, with residents citing that they have “had it with Trollip’s promises”. Now one person has been killed.
With all this infighting between executives in this metro, my biggest concern is that with all the highlighted above scenarios, can this coalition government properly execute its duties? Is it still intact?
Are the issues around the centre holding or not? The centre is not holding, or is it?