‘We are going to take all of it’
● 100% of municipal budget must go to the townships, says Bobani
The new political leadership in the Bay will channel the entire budget for the next financial year to the townships and northern areas – and should residents in the more affluent areas report a sewerage problem, head of infrastructure and engineering Andile Lungisa will be told to ignore it.
This startling pronouncement was made by mayor Mongameli Bobani at an Integrated Development Plan (IDP) meeting at the Nangoza Jebe Hall in New Brighton.
Bobani, who was caught on camera making the statement on Thursday, backtracked somewhat on Friday, saying he had been speaking figuratively and not literally.
However, he had made no bones at the meeting about the fact that it was time residents in more affluent areas also experienced blocked drains and sewage spills.
Addressing dozens of New Brighton residents, Bobani said 100% of the municipal budget would be channelled to the townships.
The Nelson Mandela Bay Ratespayers’ Association said it would fight any move to sideline residents in specific areas of the metro.
The municipality is reviewing the IDP and budget before the draft budget for 2019/2020 is tabled in council in May.
The plan is to meet residents to establish what the priorities are for the various wards.
Bobani said township residents had suffered for long enough.
“The money that was meant to come here was not coming here,” he said.
“Your drains are blocked and those of you living in shacks get drenched in water and some of you don’t have toilets.
“We are in charge now and [for] this coming [budget process].
“We are not talking about the previous budget, of which we have no idea how it was even passed, because we tried to stop it.
“We were saying 80% of the money must come to you and they can get 20% – now we are going to take all of it,” Bobani told the cheering residents.
Earlier in 2018, when the budget was being tabled, the ANC claimed it was biased towards the Bay’s affluent areas and did not prioritise previously disadvantaged areas, ignoring the 80-20 principle.
However, an analysis by The Herald of the allocations for ward-based projects found that about 90% of the money going towards capital projects in wards would be directed to the townships and northern areas.
But Bobani still insisted on Thursday that the budget allocation needed to change.
“This must change. They [more affluent areas] have been getting 80% in the past and you were [at] the bottom. Now it is their turn to not get anything.
“We are unapologetic about this. We are going to do this.
“They must also experience the smelly drains [as] we have been going through that the whole time,” he said.
Bobani also said that should a blocked sewer pipe be reported in the more affluent areas, Lungisa would be told not to attend to it but to instead focus on the townships.
“As this new government, we are bridging a gap. It will be painful for some,” he said.
On Friday, Bobani backtracked a little as he tried to explain his remarks.
“We know that the previously disadvantaged areas never received the attention they needed.
“We will now pay 100% of our attention to them and we are unapologetic about that.”
He said the municipality would pay “some attention” to the more affluent areas, but more attention would be given to the previously disadvantaged areas.
“This does not mean we will not pay attention to the affluent areas but what we are saying is that we will give 100% of our attention to those who have been suffering,” Bobani said.
Asked if he did not think his comments were reckless, Bobani said “no”.
Thursday’s meeting was attended by more than 300 residents from wards 14, 15, 16, and 18.
Ratespayers’ association chair Kobus Gerber said: “We will fight this. This is going to be big.”
Gerber said the association would only work with a government that recognised its ratepayers.
“That statement [by Bobani] is a joke to us. We will stop it.
“We agree with the upliftment of the poor.
“If you take the budget to one area and not to other areas – there has to be a balance,” Gerber said.
In May, the ratepayers’ association threatened a rates boycott should former mayor Athol Trollip be ousted from his position – which happened late last month when the opposition parties decided in favour of a vote of no confidence in Trollip.
That vote and the council meeting at which it took place are before the Port Elizabeth High Court, with the judgment reserved.
Gerber said the association would continue forging ahead with the rates boycott.
At Thursday’s meeting, the residents brought up a number of issues, including the need for more infrastructure, rectification of RDP houses, the lack of sports and recreation facilities, sewerage problems and substance abuse.
Bobani urged residents to speak to their ward councillors.
“It is unacceptable for people to live with sewage leaks in front of their homes and we will see that there is an urgent intervention,” he said.
He also promised to visit all the areas identified at the meeting as being in need, with the relevant officials in tow.
“We are a government that goes to the people and we will visit all problematic areas to make on-the-spot decisions,” Bobani said.
‘‘That statement [by Bobani] is a joke to us. We will stop it.’ Kobus Gerber
RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION CHAIRMAN