10 June 2009
As the SACP in the Western Cape we are not surprised by the report on the Cape Times of the 4th June 2009 on the under spending of the City of Cape Town under the Mayorship of Helen Zille. It is regrettable and disgusting that whilst the SACP has delivered a memorandum on the 20th March 2009, to the authorities of the City of Cape Town, the DA run City of Cape Town continues to neglect working class communities, mainly Coloreds and Africans. The world body that has honored Helen Zille as the World’s Best Mayor must visit working class communities within the City of Cape Town, there is no doubt that they will regret to have honored her, as the SACP we questioned the methodology and the criteria that was used to select Helen Zille.
Whilst in the City of Cape Town, there are 387 805 unemployed people who are mainly Coloreds and Africans, we read the news on the Cape Times that staff shortages and vacancies leave R447 million unspent in the City’s budget. How can there be R69.7 million unspent at water services whilst there are 168 778 people with no access to piped water inside the dwelling who are mainly Coloreds and Africans. Through our march we informed the City of Cape Town that there are 2 085 people using chemical toilets, there are 26 108 people using bucket system, there are 83 621 people living in informal dwelling and there are 55 638 people living in shacks in the backyard who are mainly Coloreds and Africans. The failure to spend the money in the working class and poor communities shows with no doubt that the DA run City of Cape has no interests of working class and poor masses staying in Mitchelsplain, Chris Nissen Park, Manenberg, Kayelitsha and so on.
The failure to spend by the DA millions of rands is the testimony that theirs is only to represent a fundamentally schizophrenic project, a liberal party of privilege using a strata of the working class against itself. DA’s ideology of liberalism has never worked anywhere, hence the global financial crisis, it is a self defeating project, as it cannot address the plight and the challenges of the working class and the poor.
We are convinced as the SACP that millions of rands that are unspent by the DA run City of Cape Town, could have gone a long way in addressing issues such e eradication of bucket system and chemical toilets, ensuring access to clean and drinkable water, provision of electricity and generally improving the socio-economic conditions faced by our communities. The fact that Zille’s first assignment as the premier was to exclude women in decision making structures such as cabinet is the genesis of further contaminating the whole province with neoliberal cancer.
Issued by the SACP Western Cape
Contact:
Khaya Magaxa: SACP Provincial Secretary
083 721 0221