Statement of the South African Communist Party in the Brian Bunting District on the deepening governance and administrative paralysis in the City of Cape Town
18 January 2018
The South African Communist Party (SACP) in the Brian Bunting District is appalled by the deepening crisis in the City of Cape Town's governance and administration. The racially based factional battles inside the Democratic Alliance (DA) for control of resources of the City, has severely compromised governance and service delivery capacity. Cape Town is confronted with a DA instigated severe water crisis yet the DA is consumed by worsening factional fights. It is clear that the DA does not have any coherent strategy to deal with this crisis.
The Mayor, Patricia De Lille, has been sidelined from activities of her own caucus, other Party activities, and more recently controversially stripped off her executive powers in relation to the water crisis facing the City of Cape Town. The DA Federal Executive has interfered with the governance of the City by factionally and unlawfully removing powers conferred upon the Mayor by the Constitution, and the Municipal Systems and Structures legislation. This exposes a failure to differentiate between Party and state. Therefore, we call upon the DA to desist from meddling with the affairs of the City.
It is clear that De Lille is no longer useful to the DA. She is nevertheless not an innocent victim. She collaborated in maintaining the skewed development projects which privileged white middle class suburbs. She also collaborated with private developers at the expense of inclusive development, working class and poor families.
Under the veil of “clean governance” and “world class city”, De Lille and her administration concealed the financial irregularities for a number of years. Over 1000 forensic reports conducted by City officials which unearthed corruption and mismanagement of public resources were concealed by the DA government in the City. Therefore, the DA is not only responsible for the massive corruption in the City, but also for the collapse of City’s governance.
We reiterate our call for special investigation unit (SIU) and the hawks to investigate the massive corruption and mismanagement in the City. This is due to collapse of governance in the City and political interference by the DA. Such investigation will restore the public confidence in this important institution.
The resignation of Mr. Ebrahim, as the City Manager, is nothing but a ploy to avoid accountability. As the former Accounting Officer he failed in his fiduciary duties to prevent prejudice to the City’s finances and to disclose to the Council all material facts and breaches behind the maladministration in the City. Mr. Ebrahim must be held liable for the administrative decay in the City.
Issued by Siya Siswana, District Secretary, SACP Brian Bunting District - Western Cape Province, 18 January 2018
