ANC chief whip at the North West Provincial Legislature, Hoffman Galeng lambasted the DA and EFF after the two opposition parties refused to participate in voting for the local government and human settlements department budget.

Galeng described the opposition parties’ move as dismay. He said what was displayed by both parties a political gimmick.

“This was important budget vote of local government and human settlements. The EFF and DA’s collective gripe is that the budget allocated for the provision of low cost housing to the value of R2bn. Both parties played to the gallery and politics of rank opportunism, instead of contributing to the national discourse.

“This conduct of the DA in particular seeks to defeat the advancement of the course of the black people. The very same population group whose vote they so desperately want. This is despite the fact that the portfolio committee on local government and human settlement chaired by Motlalepula Rosho,” Galeng said.

He said all political parties were represented in the legislature portfolio committee that expressed its satisfaction of the department’s progress.

“The local government and human settlements department mandated to uplift and ameliorates the conditions of our people. The aim is to free them from shackles of homelessness and restore their human dignity.

“We commend the work done by the department and further urge Mahumapelo to forge ahead with the commitment of pushing back the frontiers of poverty. This can be achieved by promoting employment opportunities and reducing the gap of inequality that exists among the people of Bokone Bophirima province,” Galeng said.

DA provincial leader, Joe McGluwa said the country has made a significant progress since 1994. He said the DA salutes struggle icons and praise them for that. However McGluwa said the country was at a crucial crossroads today.

“There is a concerning growing trend of corruption in the sphere of local governance and human settlements department. The department is the cold face of service delivery. It is this department’s mandate to create decent living conditions for the people of the North West province.

“There are too many administrators in local government and human settlements department and municipalities. The province has too many acting directors, too many acting senior managers and too many acting municipal managers. The department’s 2015/16 Annual Performance Plan stated that ten projects called a package of priority projects, however only three projects were successful,” McGluwa said.

  He added that the current housing backlog is at 238 000 households. McGluwa said approximately 14 800 households still require basic sanitation.

   “Over a million household are still without adequate water. Municipalities such as Ditsobotla have gone through six different municipal managers in just three years. Also numbers of our municipalities are actually totally dysfunctional. Our poor communities in Ditsobotla are paying R2700 for an electricity meter worth only R300,” he said.

-TDN

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