Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Leona Kleynhans MPL and Sesotho soundbite by Moshe Lefuma Cllr
In his State of the Province address in Phuthaditjhaba on Thursday, Premier Dukwana presented political rhetoric and no hope for the 400 000 residents of Maluti-a-Phofung. The municipality has an over 70% unemployment rate, while poverty and starvation are the highest in this area of the province.
Water provision is so dire that areas remain without water for weeks, while residents suffer from constant electricity outages and load reduction, on top of load shedding. The council, currently under ANC coalition control is totally dysfunctional with no Mayoral Committee, five months after the election of the new Executive Mayor. MPAC has failed to investigate R3, 2 billion in Wasteful Expenditure, while the municipality owes Eskom about R9 billion.
Dukwana said that 282 907 job opportunities have been created in the Free State since 2019, which will ignite economic growth. These are not permanent jobs, but are short-term temporary contract jobs, and will do nothing to stimulate the economy. In the Industrial Parks of QwaQwa, so many factories have shut down that the Minister of Employment and Labour has said in Parliament that the Phuthaditjhaba Labour Centre cannot cope with the number of UIF applications.
The Premier also said that about 4000 houses will be built in the Free State. The truth is that in its revised annual performance plan, the Department of Human Settlements is planning to build under 500 houses in the Free State this year, while 152 houses were built last year. The department also sent back R600 million in unspent funds this year.
The flagship MaP SEZ has, since 2014, managed to create only 167 jobs. The lack of investment and job creation is precisely because of the inability of MaP to supply reliable bulk water and electricity to the SEZ.
Premier Dukwana again reiterated the promise that Eskom will ‘soon’ take over the electricity function of MaP. This promise was first made by Deputy President David Mabuza in December 2020. And despite an order of the Gauteng High Court in June 2021, it remains a pipe dream. No final agreement has yet been tabled in MaP council.
On corruption, Premier Dukwana promised that it will be ruthlessly rooted out, yet sitting in the benches of the Legislature is an ANC Honourable Member, who as former Mayor of MaP, presided over the worst of the corruption. Pres. Ramaphosa in 2019 proclaimed an SIU investigation covering his term as Mayor.
Sadly for the people of MaP, the Premier brought nothing to instil hope that they would soon be relieved of their misery. Instead, they were treated to a shameless display of political arrogance, extravagance and betrayal.
In the coming election the people will place their trust in a party with a proven track record of service delivery, good governance, and the creation of an enabling environment for investment and job creation. The Democratic Alliance is that party. We are ready to rescue the people of MaP from the incompetence and devastation they have endured under both the ANC and MaP16 administrations.