I wish to respond to the letter by the DA MP Manny de Freitas titled “DA-led city will follow the proper processes”.
First, the ANC city administration through the department of human settlements initiated this project as implementing the Freedom Charter clause that reads: “There shall be houses, security and comfort.”
Read: Let’s allocate the units properly
The DA was and still is opposed to the said project. The DA took the ANC-led administration to court, claiming that the development would affect the value of their properties. The City of Joburg won the case to continue with the development.
It was the ANC-led city government that developed the legislation prioritising the 1996 and 1997 housing list. His claims of ANC involvement in the illegal allocation without following proper procedures are a fallacy.
De Freitas and his party are shying away from the fact that the South Hills community needs answers regarding the list since it involves people who registered in 2016 and 2017, but they do not fall under the specialisation criteria. They want the executive mayor to exercise his constitutional obligations to address the people.
The DA is not accustomed to the culture of consultation, hence the pandemonium and chaos that ensued during the launch.
It is therefore the DA that must take the blame for politicising the South Hills project.
The DA and its multiparty coalition must stop fooling the ratepayers of Joburg by telling them that these projects that are being completed are their initiatives, when they know these projects were the brainchild of the ANC administration.
It’s sheer opportunism by the DA to want to use development for electioneering.
“Tell no lies, claim no easy victory.”
Alex Sithole, Kenilworth resident
Correspondence on this debate is herewith concluded in this publication.
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