The DA in JB Marks acknowledge the comments of Mr Solly Rajah.

As the DA we are grateful for Mr Rajah’s acknowledgement of the total failure of the ANC led local government in JB Marks and the destructive causes for such failure, which are also prominent in the current National Commissions of Enquiry in parliament and the Madlanga Commission.

The DA is also grateful for the acknowledgement of the DA’s proven track record of service delivery. The delivery of basic municipal services to our residents in an accountable way. The DA will restore the dignity of access to basic services to all residents (who are interdependent on each other for so many reasons) in JB Marks.

Access to adequate housing is a duty imposed on the state and as part of the fulfilment of such right, the duty to provide basic services (water, sanitation, access to electricity, storm water infrastructure , access roads and streetlights) rest squarely on the shoulders of local municipalities. That is also what a DA government will seek to provide.

For the past 20 years JB Marks has witnessed the brutal consequences of a failure to provide the dignity of access to the services above. If the causes of failure, as rightfully mentioned by Mr Rajah, and the amounts it has cost our community there should not be any surprise that some parts of our city where people are expected to live can only be described as the worst one can get.

If DA government was in charge for the past 20 years, R2.9 billion (1.5 times the annual total budget of JB Marks) of irregular expenditure would have been visible in service delivery to each and every part of our city.

Where the DA governs, we deliver.

The DA-led City of Cape Town has reported delivering more housing opportunities than any other city in South Africa, surpassing the combined total of Johannesburg, Tshwane, and Ekurhuleni over a 5-year period.

In the five years leading up to late 2025, the DA-led City of Cape Town reported handing over over 12,401 homes.

The Western Cape government reported delivering over 200,000 housing opportunities in one year.

Commitment to Future Delivery: The Western Cape government has committed to delivering an additional 50,000 housing opportunities over the next five years, starting from the 2025/26 period.

Perhaps the immediate answer, insofar as the role and functions of local government is concerned, is not in changing address, but instead it is about going back to the basics of affording residents the human dignity of access to basic services wherever they may choose to live.

The long term objective should be to grow employment opportunities in our city to afford each and every person the opportunity to have the dignity of earning a livelihood and take care of their families wherever they may choose to live.

For that, as Mr Rajah describes it, the choice must be for efficiency, better services, cleaner tenders, accountable governance that makes DA municipalities the best performing municipalities in the country and as, significantly, endorsed by the president of our country.

HJ Moolman

DA Caucus Leader