North West Premier, Bushy Maape/Facebook
By OBAKENG MAJE
The Forum for Service Delivery (F4SD) president, Mbahare Kekana calls on the disgraced North West Premier, Bushy Maape to resign within 48 hours. This comes after Maape painted a ‘rosy’ picture of the North West roads during the State of the Nation Address (SOPA) debate in parliament last week.
Maape allegedly told everyone who cared on national television that he travels around the North West province roads without hitting any potholes. However, Kekana said Maape is ‘out of touch’ and he ‘needs to come back to reality.’
“As F4SD, we are disappointed about the lies of Maape. He is not a leader and he wanted to trend on lies to become a celebrity. People of the North West are living in dire situations without proper roads.
“We saw a Premier who lies and does not take the people of the North West very seriously. So, we are saying, Maape must resign within 48 hours. He must go because we cannot have a Premier who behaves like this,” he said.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) secretary in North West, Papiki Babuile said Maape’s comments were senseless and reckless.
Babuile said: “We have noted with disgust the empty rhetoric by the pathological liar, Maape during both the SONA build-up and the debate thereof. On 9 February 2023, in response to the question on the limping service delivery in the North West, Maape created an impression that the province is alive with possibilities.
“He prefaced his argument with the notion that road infrastructures are conducive for motorists, despite the deadly roads, high levels of crime and substantively collapsed of the Naledi Local Municipality in Dr Ruth Segomotsi
Mompati District, where he comes from.”
Babuile said not so long ago, in 2022, to mention one amongst others, the province witnessed a tragedy of 19 family members as they perished in a horrific crash on the road from Bloemhof to Schweizer Reneke. According to Babuile, Maape further argued that the Ditsobotla Local Municipality is registering some progress following the dissolution and by-elections, however, three months on, the residents are still faced with the water crisis, poverty and
unemployment.
“To date, Joe Morolong Memorial Hospital in Vryburg, where Maape comes from, and communities across the province are without water and the
frustrations manifested through service delivery protests.
“On 15 February 2023, Maape argued that the people in Vryburg were enjoying a better life. His testimony bears evidence to the fact that a better life is exclusively enjoyed by his close political associates, family and friends,” said Babuile.
He added, as the EFF, will hold Maape accountable for his lies and inhumane sentiments.
Meanwhile, the Member of Provincial Legislature (MPL) in the North West and Democratic Alliance (DA) Caucus Leader, Freedy Sonakile said: “The truth is that North West roads are a death trap. The provincial road network is approximately 19 783 kilometres in length, while only 5 419 kilometres are paved (tarred roads) and 14 197 kilometres unpaved (gravel roads).
“It is a terrible situation when only a quarter of the road network is paved, yet it carries over 80% of provincial traffic. Last year, during the Premier’s budget speech, we warned Maape that he is out of touch with the lived realities of North West residents.”
Picture 1: Potholes on some of the roads in North West/Supplied
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