DEAR Editor,-
I have the utmost respect for MEC Ravi Pillay. He is a respected resident of the Ray Nkonyeni Municipality. His record as a community leader and activist in the Port Shepstone area is well known. With my family also having roots in the Natal Indian Congress, I have first-hand knowledge of the sacrifices and hard work that he and numerous activists put in during the struggle against racial discrimination during apartheid.
Therefore it is surprising that such an articulate and educated MEC would resort to insults to respond to legitimate community experiences and complaints against the delay in the handover of houses to the poor and vulnerable. It does however indicate the depths that the once renowned African National Congress has sunk to. It provides the reason for the ANC’s five percent electoral decline in Ray Nkonyeni Municipality between 2011 and 2016.
This letter, however, is not to trade insults in a tit-for-tat exchange, but to respond to certain aspersions and allegations that MEC Pillay made in the article ‘MEC lashes out’ (SCH September 23).
1 While I was born and raised in Durban, I have been a proud resident of Margate since August 2014, after being deployed to represent the Ugu South Constituency by the Democratic Alliance. I have always felt that a public representative should live in their community to experience their challenges with them.
2 I’m not ‘an informed novice’ when it comes to the pain of people living in informal settlements. As a medical doctor, I have had first-hand experience in treating children and the elderly in public hospitals with conditions such as diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition which are more common in these vulnerable communities.
3 It is a pity that the MEC did not directly speak to any of the four elders who were invited to the sitting. If he had, he would know that the DA did not promise residents houses. The DA promised that we would fight for answers as to when their housing projects would be completed and handovers will occur. That is what they witnessed at the sitting on Tuesday, September 6.
The most important people in this whole discussion though is not the MEC or myself, but Francina van Schalkwyk, her grandchildren and the thousands of Ray Nkonyeni residents living in deplorable conditions.
The DA is busy engaging with Social Development to ensure that Mrs van Schalkwyk and her family get the social security support to try and improve their living conditions. We are communicating with social workers to do this. We will ensure that the vulnerable receive the services they are entitled to under the South African Constitution.
The South Coast Herald is a renowned newspaper and an integral part of the KZN South Coast. It is well-known for its independent reporting of news.
This newspaper is not a mouthpiece of the DA with the Herald previously publishing articles negative towards the DA. As the DA, we value the independence of the media to hold all public representatives to account without fear or favour.
There is a stark omission in the MEC’s letter; there is still no timeframe for the handover of houses in the Merlewood, Masinenge and Mkholombe Housing Projects. Communities are still awaiting these answers. The DA will continue to highlight the living conditions of Ray Nkonyeni Municipality residents and will continue to apply pressure on MEC Pillay to set deadlines. If this results in myself having to experience further insults, I will gladly endure this and speak truth to power. I am accountable to the 308 675 residents of Ray Nkonyeni Municipality and will continue to serve them to the best of my ability.
DR RISHIGEN VIRANNA MPL
DA Ugu South Constituency Head
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