Mayor and Premier continues the big lie in Manenberg

3 August 2015

The announcement of the Maneneberg upgrade is too little for the extent of the problem.

The problem of all the townships are the same, with drugs and gangs being the worst, but shortage of housing and lack of facilities in education also plays a big part. This fact alone would point to the need for a comprehensive plan for the entire Cape Flats.

Many of the organisations in Manenberg have not been adequately consulted as the DA tries to use the Manenberg community for their PR campaigns.

The proposals from the Premier and the Mayor are not equal to the extent of the problem and do not provide the required leadership to mobilise the community against the challenges.

The timing of the proposals less than a year before the elections, when the Premier and Mayor has not dealt with the problem during their 10 years in office as the DA, raises more questions.

This is just a political gimmick to fool communities before the 2016 elections.

The land and the funding for the Hospital have not been secured, so at this stage it is only an empty promise.

We want GF Jooste Hospital to be reopened for the community in the Manenberg area until the alternative health services are ready.

The detailed concerns of Cosatu are attached to the prior press statement, which is included below.

COSATU Western Cape and Manenberg Community issues

The Press Conference of the Cape Flats Communities; with the Manenberg community, is in relation to the need for equality of the areas which addresses apartheid spatial and crime patterns; will be held on Sunday 2 August 2015. 

This conference will also be Condemning the DA [Premier and Mayor] failure to consult on Manenberg plans and dividing Cape Flats Communities, by determining which areas will get support, if they play ball with the Madam, as reflected in Government Newsletter written by Premier Zille.

Cosatu and the Manenberg Community will be having a press Conference on Sunday to outline what we would like to see happening in Manenberg.

Firstly there must be consultation with all the role players all of the time, and not only now when the DA sees no way to address the crisis in the society and they consult some and favour mainly their pals in the area. 

Any initiative that is taken must be part of a City wide plan that sees all areas included, as the gangs are syndicated and spread to all the areas, and pressure in one point alone will just move the activities to other areas.

We must start any comprehensive initiative as a matter of Urgency. The DA has now been in office for 10 years in the City and nothing significant has yet been done to address the scourge of gangs and drugs as Communities social fabric unravels. The Premier has been in office as long and she has and done nothing for Cape Flats, so she must not be surprised when people think this is an election gimmick.

The measures that are announced now are a welcome start to at least having the DA acknowledge the problem on the Cape Flats.

The Regional hospital that is promised has no land or budget allocated, so it seems like just a wild promise. The planning in relation to the closure of GF Jooste that could still have been providing much needed services now, is not an indication of a well run City or Province. We demand that Jooste be reopened and that community get the Health services from there until a new and better hospital is built in the area in future. We cannot subject our peoples health needs to wild promises by an uncaring Government that does not plan carefully from one day to the next.

The police College are to be welcomed if it is constitutional and sees the personnel deployed to Cape Flats and not to Sea Point like so many other resources of the City on Sea Point beach front. However, there are many other locations for the college across the City, than to use the hospital site that was set aside for upgrades by the Province just a few months ago.

The walk ways and bicycle lanes are welcomed, but was promised when the Milnerton people got their fancy bicycle lanes and BRT busses. It is only promised for delivery now as part of an electoral gimmick.

The upgraded schools are to be welcomed, but why does these learners only get promised now what Zille children had at Westerford 10 years ago? Are these kids second class? There are many schools in dangerous rundown positions that nothing is being done about on the Cape Flats, but R50 million is spent on an advertising budget that tells people repeatedly that nothing is wrong on the Cape Flats as it’s the best run Province.

The youth Lifestyle and sports complex exists in many of the white areas with a much lower level of need or urgency in delivery required. 10 years later it suddenly dawns on the Mayor that poor black kids deserve and need the same things as rich white kids.

We also believe that there are many other urgent areas that need to be addressed to resolve the social crisis;

Housing needs to be developed for people who are stuck in backyards by a Government that does not provide sufficient housing. These houses must be built in Old White areas, where there are pockets of land available, which will integrate our communities.

The backyarders who are not immediately assisted with housing must be provided with basic services to backyarders and rights of tenure to protect them.

The Manenberg Waterfront should have got the Milnerton type landscaping a long time ago, but they were treated as second class citizens just a few months ago, no wonder their suspicions of the Premier’s office. The R30 Million wasted on the Soccer disaster could have addressed this upgrade, but it was money wasted by the Mayor.

This City and Province was absent when the community driven Proudly Manenberg was being driven by community members. Now that they think they can take the political glory, now they arrive to announce basic things that all white areas have to much fan fare.

This City has more than enough money to address the huge inequalities between white and black communities, which would make all areas have the environment like white areas, where there is a more positive environment. The demand to equalise the City is applicable to all areas, with a special emphasis on those that suffered under apartheid. This equalisation of the Province has not happened under the DA and now they want to give all kinds of special names to what should be a basic task of the democratic Government.

The people of Manenberg like the people on the rest of the Cape Flats believe that we should have a comprehensive plan for the Cape Flats that may be implemented in phases. But Cape Flats communities will not accept a situation where the Mayor and Premier play politics with the lives of Cape Flats communities for Electoral gains for 2016.

The DA has not been able to come up with a plan that addresses the greatest challenge of the Cape Flats, now it is grasping at straws to make it an electoral issue, after Crime and killings increased under the DA watch.

Statement issued by Cde Tony Ehrenreich, COSATU Western Cape Provincial Secretary, August 3 2015