In the opinion piece DA Cannot claim to have turned around infant mortality in Cape Town (March 31, 2011) the SJC and the TAC's Nathan Geffen and Gavin Silber make accusations against the DA based on a blatant and deliberate perversion of the facts.
First, they claim that the DA is "...being more than a touch frugal with the truth..." by indicating that the DA-run City of Cape Town has succeeded in improving public health care in the metro by cutting the infant mortality rate and achieving one of the highest TB cure rate in the country. They base their claim on data presented by the City of Cape Town in November 2010, which according to the two, indicated an increased in the infant mortality rate in the city.
Second, they claim that the likely cause of the spike in the infant mortality rate was brought about by gastric diseases as a result of "...poorly maintained and ageing sanitation infrastructure in Khayelitsha..." The facts tell quite a different story.
According to statistics collated by the City of Cape Town's Health Department - when the DA took over the administration of the City of Cape Town in 2006, the infant mortality rate stood at 22.28. By the end of 2009 the DA-run administration had succeeded in reducing the rate to 20.76, across all eight districts falling under the City of Cape Town.
Therefore, the TAC and the SJC's claim that the DA cannot take claim responsibility for reducing the infant mortality rate in the City of Cape Town is incorrect, when the statistics plainly reveal that under the DA's administration a decrease in infant mortality rates was recorded across all eight districts of the city.
Further, the claim that infrastructure in Khayelitsha is ageing and poorly maintained, thus resulting in the prevalence of gastric diseases, is also incorrect. Since taking over the administration of the City of Cape Town, the DA has worked at improving health care in all areas of the City, and tackling preventable gastric diseases. This year alone, the Western Cape Department of Health recorded a remarkable decrease in diarrhoeal disease hospital deaths in children under five.
Last year 37 in-hospital deaths were recorded in hospitals in the metro, and this year there have been only four. This could not have been achieved if infrastructure was "poorly maintained and aging". The City of Cape Town has invested significantly in primary healthcare, a contributory factor to the reduced infant mortality rate and the reduction in deaths related to gastric disease.
While one can only speculate about the motivations of the SJC and the TAC in attempting to present the DA in a negative light, it has become quite plainly evident that the City of Cape Town is a better run city and has profoundly improved the lives of the poor. Other than providing better healthcare, the DA has also invested in an Indigent Policy aimed at residents who are genuinely unable to afford rates and service charges. In terms of this policy, the indigent can register for assistance and if they qualify they will receive a 100% rebate on rates, 6 000 litres of free water and 50kWh of free electricity a month. For the 2011/12 financial year over R1 billion has been budgeted for this programme.
The DA's commitment to eradicating poverty has been recognized by several independent institutions that have declared the Cape Town as having delivered more to its poor than any other city in South Africa. For example, the national Department of Traditional Affairs and Co-operative Governance ranked Cape Town as the best in providing basic services - 100% of the citizens of the city have access to water, 94% to sanitation and 95% have electricity.
The DA therefore can rightfully claim to have cut the infant mortality rate, and to have improved the lives of the poor in the City of Cape Town.
DA Councillor James Vos is Chairperson: Health, City of Cape Town. This article first appeared in the Cape Times April 4 2011
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
