DA coalition to blame for squalor in Alexandra, says Ramaphosa
President wanted Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba to address residents first, but this has not happened, he said
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday placed the blame for the squalor in Alexandra on the shoulders of the DA-led coalition, calling on Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba to clean up the township.
After a week of protests, in which angry residents raised service delivery issues as well as high levels of crime, Ramaphosa addressed a crowd and promised that the residents’ problems would be sorted out.
“Your message is very clear and your message has reverberated throughout the whole country that you as Alex are sick and tired of poor service delivery. You as people of Alex you want better service delivery. You as people of Alexandra, you want people who will serve you better so that your lives can improve. We have heard that message,” he said.
Sewage was “just flowing” in the streets of Alexandra and residents did not want that, Ramaphosa said.
“We say Alexandra and ward 105 is not a dumping ground.”
The “filth” and the dirt in Alexandra has “disturbed” him, Ramaphosa said, and that this was the responsibility of the local government, which is the DA-led City of Johannesburg.
“It’s upon the shoulders of local government to clean up the area so that the rats can be dealt with. We cannot allow people to live among the rats, we cannot allow our people to live among the filth I have seen here,” Ramaphosa said.
Alexandra had not yet sunk to the level of Emfuleni on the Vaal River where the SA National Defence Force was deployed to help deal with the sewage crisis, the president said.
“I want to give the mayor and the municipality a chance. They must come and do it in the next few days,” Ramaphosa said. He told the crowd he had wanted the mayor, “who is responsible”, to address residents first, but that this had not happened.
Ramaphosa’s visit to the area comes two days after Gauteng premier David Makhura met with the committee organising the protest in Alexandra.
Mashaba was only expected to engage residents in Alexandra on Monday during an integrated development plan consultation and did not address residents when he was called on to do so earlier this week. He would meet with councillors on Friday.
Mashaba said the problems in the township were a result of years of mismanagement by the governing party which has been running the local authority since 1994.
In television interviews earlier this week, Mashaba blamed the governing party for the crisis, saying ANC officials had misappropriated funds meant for the township’s development.
He blamed the ANC councillors for playing politics with the people of Alexandra’s genuine grievances.
Ramaphosa instructed the provincial and national governments to meet with the municipality to solve the crisis in the embattled township.
Dressed in ANC regalia, the president was flanked by Makhura and co-operative governance and traditional affairs minister Zweli Mkhize, human settlements minister Nomaindia Mfeketo, home affairs minister Siyabonga Cwele and small business development Lindiwe Zulu. He tasked them with meeting immediately with the committee leading the protests. He also directed the provincial government to immediately meet with Mashaba to address issues raised.