ANC-led Coalition bulldozes reckless BRT item through Council
by Cllr Bill Rundle — DA Shadow MMC for Transport Planning in Ekurhuleni
Date: 04 February 2021
Release: Immediate
Type: Media Statement
At the recent Virtual Council Sitting, the ANC and its Coalition partners sought approval for an agreement to be signed by the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) and the taxi industry representing parties who would be affected by the rollout of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) project.
The agreement will cover interim payments for loss of revenue by the taxi operator, due to the BRT buses running on affected routes. As the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Ekurhuleni, we do not oppose the compensation payments of the BRT system, however we do oppose the manner in which the ANC-led coalition are implementing this item.
As the DA, we raised our concerns regarding the haphazard and seemingly underhanded way in which this ANC-led Municipality is operating with regards to forcing this item through council with its Coalition partner majority.
The ANC appointed executive only presented this item and its supporting documentation, at the last minute before council, to try and reduce democratic scrutiny and oversight. Amounts represented in the item remain unverified, as the calculation methods and data on which it is based is not available.
In addition, the National Department of Transport (DoT) has placed the failing ANC-led Municipality on notice, following a warning over the lack of progress and wasteful expenditure incurred so far. The ANC-led coalition have steadfastly denied this, despite documentary evidence from parliament representatives, to the contrary.
The DA is in support of the Municipal’s Legal Services Department, which issued a legal report which was of the opinion that there were several areas of concerns, for example: interim payments to unregistered or unidentified operators may result in double payments to them. The report stated that it had to be amended and be signed and be sent back for review by legal services. However, an unsigned and unreviewed agreement was presented in council.
As the DA, a party of law, we believe it was reckless to continue without the matters being raised addressed effectively. The project is years behind and well over budget and disputes with the taxi operators and community members have contributed to these delays.
The failing ANC Coalition-led Municipality is currently subsidising the losses, being made by the BRT and looking after the interest of taxi operators, at the expense of service delivery to residents.
The ANC and its Coalition partners’ decision to force this matter through council smacks in the face of the many residents being deprived of quality basic services. Many vital infrastructure projects have been stopped and/or are not started due to lack of funding.
There is no political will from the ANC-led Coalition to turn the City around and put the residents first.
Cllr Bill Rundle
DA Shadow MMC for Transport Planning in Ekurhuleni
