MBOMBELA – This week the premier, Mr David Mabuza advised the mayors of towns not to be distracted by their political opponents in the ANC, but instead to focus on service delivery ahead of next year’s municipal elections. He was addressing representatives from municipalities, government departments and parastatals during his premier’s coordination forum (PCF) on Monday of last week.
“It is normal that when elections come closer there will be people vying for your positions. There are mayors- and premiers-in-waiting. Do not hate them, rather wish them luck. It could be a blessing in disguise because they do not know that you are having difficulty in these positions.”
He called on the existing leadership to remain focused. “Soon you will be challenged internally or from outside the ruling party. When that time comes, you should not collapse because people out there will still be expecting you to deliver services.”
He warned that service-delivery protests would be orchestrated by their political opponents who “would exploit the practical things that would provoke our people to be angry and you might end up losing focus”.
The premier asked that leaders be accessible to the people and to interact with them to avoid service-delivery protests – as these are used as a last resort to get attention from the government. “We must be honest and tell the people where we have done well, but at the same time we must also tell them where we have failed.”
The Auditor General recently released his latest reports on municipalities. Ehlanzeni District Municipality again received a clean audit report. Mbombela obtained an unqualified report. Umjindi, Bushbuckridge and Nkomazi got qualified audit reports and Thaba Chweu received a disclaimer.
“As the leaders in the local government sphere, we must be able to close that gap. I expect you to be humble to the people at all time. You will be pushed to the limit, but there is no excuse to explode. Maintain your calm and continue working for the people,” Mabuza said.
- Read more on protest action here:
Protesters arrested after violent strike
Crocodile Gorge affected by protest action
