DA will fight Midvaal merger in Parliament
The DA will request that the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) be summoned to Parliament to explain its reasoning behind the merger of the Midvaal and Emfuleni municipalities in Gauteng.
The decision to merge these two municipalities appears to be politically motivated and not based on any service delivery needs.
The DA-led Midvaal municipality is the best run municipality in Gauteng. Since the DA took control of the municipality in 2001, the people of Midvaal have benefitted from the DA's commitment to clean and efficient government as follows:
- 15% economic growth per year over the past ten years;
- 11% unemployment, compared with 25% nationally;
- 84% access to refuse removal compared to 58% in 2001;
- 94% access to sanitation compared to 73% in 2001;
- 89% access to electricity compared to 68% in 2001;
- 98% access to water compared to 90% in 2001.
The figures speak for themselves. The only logical reason for the MDB to go ahead with the merger of Midvaal and Emfuleni has to be to take away control of Midvaal from the DA ahead of next year's election at the expense of the delivery of quality services.
I will also be making my own submissions to the MDB before the period for public comment on the proposed merger expires, showing how previous mergers of municipalities have not only failed to improve service delivery but, in fact, adversely affected it.
The DA remains committed to delivery of opportunities and services where we govern.
We will fight this merger in Parliament knowing that we are doing so in the name of service delivery and clean government. Parliament has a duty to exercise its mandated oversight role to ensure that the MDB's decisions are based on the service delivery needs of South Africans, rather than political objectives.
Statement issued by John Steenhuisen MP, DA Shadow Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, August 11 2013
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