DA holds the Executive to account for the Residents of Ekurhuleni

by Ald Tania Campbell — DA Leader in Ekurhuleni

and Cllr Brandon Pretorius — DA Deputy Chief Whip in Ekurhuleni

Date: 01 March 2021

Release: Immediate

Type: Media Statement

Following a virtual council sitting on the 25th February 2021, the Democratic Alliance (DA) leadership in the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) laid bare the facts that the ANC-appointed Executive Mayor, Cllr Mzwandile Masina, and his fellow ANC executive do not care about the needs of the residents.

The evidence speaks for itself after an Audit Report for the Oversight Committee over the Mayor and Legislature (OCMOL) report served in Council. Not only does the report paint a grim picture of the lack of consequence management, but Cllr Masina regularly appoints members of his Executive, to stand in for him during OCMOL sittings.

The ANC appointed-Mayor, Cllr Masina needs to lead from the front and be accountable and present at these crucial committee sittings. However, his failure to not only attend these meetings but his failure to introduce effective consequence management reveals exactly why this municipality is in a state of collapse, with almost non-existent service delivery.

Furthermore, the Speaker of Council, Ald Patricia Kumalo stifles the residents’ voices in council, by not allowing the number of petitions submitted to be heard in council. Instead, the Speakers requests that these get dealt with administratively. The DA believes that this silences the concerns of the communities. Handling this matter administratively means petitions may be incorrectly captured or not captured at all. In addition, the ANC-led Coalition already have a massive backlog of community petitions, some almost a decade old, which are yet to be dealt with and finalised.

The Metro’s achievements and gains have plummeted under the stewardship of the ANC coalition appointed Mayor and his executive. The residents and businesses deserve an apology from this government. The DA is once again extremely disappointed in the ANC coalition appointed Mayor Masina for not putting the residents and businesses of Ekurhuleni first with service delivery.

As the DA, we continue to work tirelessly to, not only hold the ANC and its coalition partners to account, for failing residents, businesses and communities, but we continue to work for all to bring meaningful change to CoE.

Ald Tania Campbell

DA Leader in Ekurhuleni

Cllr Brandon Pretorius

DA Deputy Chief Whip in Ekurhuleni