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13th August 2013 Statement in response to City of Cape Town announcement of plans to improve lives of residents in informal settlements (City of Cape Town 08-08-2013) The SACP in the Brian Bunting District (Cape Metro) notes with great concern the statement by the City of Cape Town Mayor de Lille on the 8th August 2013 outlining the City’s plans to improve the lives of residents of the City’s many informal settlements. Our first concern is that the statement includes no endorsement of the proposals from any representative organization of the affected citizens. We do not believe this is just a drafting absence: on the basis of past experience of the DA-led City Council, we believe it represents a continuation of the paternalistic “take it or leave it” approach imposition of technical measures on communities with no adequate prior consultation or concern about residents’ acceptance of the proposals or their suitability to residents’ and user’s needs. This is no academic quibble – firstly and fundamentally it goes to the heart of our democracy and the rights of citizens under our constitution; secondly it risks the waste of public funds on futile plans; and thirdly it invites the type of response from communities that has already been seen in their rejection of portable toilets. The DA claims to care about the poor but this habitual failure to engage with marginal communities in joint efforts to overcome problems and meet real needs is an indication of the DA’s contempt for those it hypocritically claims to serve. This plan is not about genuine concern for the poor; it is about the DA’s image amongst its supporters. In this it is in line with many other DA policies which amount to little more than the promotion of image and brand for electioneering purposes. Our second concern is that this statement includes proposals for the further provision of portable flush toilets despite the clear message from many communities that this so-called solution is unacceptable to them. Defending this unpopular imposition, the statement trots out very questionable statistics: a few years ago the City produced a list of well over 200 informal settlements within the Metro area, none with flush sanitation; today it want us to believe that there are only 700 bucket toilets in use in the City. Recent studies exposed the flaws in the City’s accounting. It is dishonest to present portable toilets as a decent solution: they are not the equivalent of main drainage system flush toilets and to be acceptable at all should be credited only as a stop-gap measure where planned full sanitation projects are in the delivery pipeline. Our third concern is with the way the DA-led City takes credit for achievements and plans possible only because of the policies and budgetary provisions of national government, led by the ANC. Most of the expenditures listed in the statement are provided by national government in line with national policies, such as programmes financed by municipal infrastructure grants from national to local government. When and if ever the DA-led Council takes a portion of the city’s rates income, or the profit it makes on electricity it sells on from ESKOM, and allocates this to improving the conditions of the City’s marginalized populations then it may merit the claims it now falsely makes to being a world-class City administration. Until then, let Mayor de Lille and the City’s statements give credit where it is due – to the ANC-led government’s commitment to a better life for all. Our fourth concern is related to that above. The statement includes no acknowledgement of any role being played by the Provincial Government in this plan, yet constitutionally the municipality is bound by the requirements of inter-governmental co-operation and mutually reinforcing plans and expenditures. Just as national government’s roles and responsibilities are ignored in the statement, so the Provincial administration’s role is excluded. If I was the Western Cape Premier, I’d be concerned that my protegé is seeking to take all the credit. We also note with concern that the Mayor in her statement nowhere acknowledges the role of the staff and workers of the City Council in the process to date and going forward. Is her disregard for consultation with communities matched by a disregard for the efforts and commitment of Council employees? Fifthly, we wonder why the statement nowhere explains why these new proposals for the informal settlements are now considered necessary. From past statements of the DA-led City and its many bland policies, complacent annual programmes and budgets, and self-satisfied Integrated Development Plan, one might have mistakenly thought that everything was already more than well-managed and taken care of. So now that this statement admits the need for a new initiative, will the Mayor come clean and tell the citizens of Cape Town that for the past 8 years they have been misled? Sixth and finally we pull these five concerns together and conclude that the so-called plan announced so grandly in the Mayor’s statement is merely a further example of the spin we have come to expect from this DA-led City Council. Programmes announced with great fanfare by the City have too often proved to be damp squibs or even poisoned chalices. Instead of this hype and self-promotion, we call on the DA-led Council to engage meaningfully with the people of this City, particularly those who need the City’s services and support the most, to come up with popular joint programmes to meet the citizens’ needs as they define them. As the SACP in the Cape Town Metro we say that together government and citizens can achieve a lot; going it alone as the City tries to do when dealing with the urban poor is a recipe for failure and waste. It’s time the Mayor and her administration to wake up to those facts. For further information contact: Benson Ngqentsu - District Secretary, 082 796 6400 E-mail: [email protected] Or Sonwabile Ngxiza – 071 451 1329 Media Liaison -- -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. 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