DA-led Coalition focussed on bettering the lives of the people in NMB
16 August 2018
The will of the people of Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) prevailed today when the frivolous Motion of No Confidence in Executive Mayor Athol Trollip was postponed.
The latest ANC attempt to steal back the City failed after they could not muster the support necessary to succeed in their quest to go against the wishes of the people.
Although the motions on the agenda is set to be debated at the next council sitting, we are not perturbed. These motions will continue to fail as they don’t have the best interest of the people of NMB at heart.
Important business of council - such as the appointment of a Chief Financial Officer and other urgent service delivery matters – could not be dealt with. The collapsing of Council yet again exposes the ANC and EFF as uncaring organisations only interested in positions and money.
I am happy to see the back of the ANC, EFF and the UDM as they are running away. They ran away because they are scared and don’t have the best interest of the people at heart.
We will not be deterred by these opposition antics and will move forward by delivering services and building in this City.
Since the DA-led coalition took over, the successes under the leadership of Executive Mayor Trollip speak for themselves.
NMB is now liquid with over R2 billion in the bank and recently received a AAA credit rating. The fact that the ANC in NMB is bankrupt indicates that they are only interested in stealing this money for their own devious purposes.
Figures prepared for the annual financial statements indicate that the administration has achieved record levels of spending in the financial year 2017/18 which ended in June 2018.
Spending in respect of the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG) at 97% is one of the best spending performances in the country this year. This notwithstanding the fact that an additional amount of R177.8 million in respect of USDG-funding was added to the budget only two months before the end of the financial year after the opposition mischievously and deliberately delayed the approval thereof.
Over the last 24 months, the coalition administration has successfully exposed and stopped corruption on contracts to the tune of R615 million, eradicated 9046 bucket toilets, resurfaced 55 820 square metres of road and managed to triple the number of annual jobs created by the EPWP (Expanded Public Works Program).
We also significantly improved turnaround times on administrative functions such as building plan approval and rates clearance transactions.
The Thusong Centre in Motherwell was completed and opened within a year after R12 million was spent. A total of 5439 EPWP jobs were created and 646 streetlights installed in a number of areas.
The Shot-spotter technology installed in Helenvale also proved to be a great success. Within 90 days of its installation, gunshots were reduced by 90%.
IPTS busses are on the road and we’ve also built the highly secured Clearly Park Bus Depot.
The DA, along with its coalition partners, will continue to serve the people of NMB. We are not enticed by the frills of public office. We want to work for the people who have voted us in, to change their lived realities.
The ANC is only interested in returning to power to steal the city. With more than R2 billion in the bank, NMB is in its best financial position in years and the ANC has now fixed its sights on undoing the progress achieved by the DA-led coalition government.
The DA-led coalition is focussed on service delivery and will not be derailed by outside influences seeking to hand the City back to the corrupt ANC. We will continue making progress in NMB.
With these frivolous motions behind us, the serious work of bringing change to Nelson Mandela Bay forges ahead under the DA-led coalition government.
The DA considers this ANC failure to be a victory for the people of Nelson Mandela Bay, who came out in their numbers to vote for change in 2016. The mandate of the people must prevail, and in 2016 the people of NMB voted the ANC out of power decisively.
The DA thanks the parties in Council who are standing on the right side of history against the ANC.
Mayor Athol Trollip, and his government, will not be distracted by this frivolous campaign – we have the people’s work to do.
Issued by Nqaba Bhanga, DA EC Provincial Leader, 16 August 2018
