Note to Editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Werner Pretorius and Sesotho soundbite by Cllr Kabelo Moreeng
The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes the recent statement by the Executive Mayor of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality (MMM), Gregory Nthatisi, regarding the DA’s court application in Lourierpark.
The DA rejects the Mayor’s notion that our court application is about political control. It is about the rule of law and the human dignity of residents — fundamental elements which underpin good governance. The legal action taken by the DA is about protecting residents and ensuring that lawful and responsible development takes place. True human dignity does not come from rushing families onto land that is not properly serviced. It comes from ensuring that the municipality’s own bylaws, along with national legislation, are adhered to. Legislation enacted to ensure that human settlement areas provide dignified housing that provides proper and safe shelter, a healthy environment, and access to basic services such as drinkable water, sanitation, stormwater infrastructure, electricity, roads and streetlights. It is also legislation with which all other residents and land developers in Mangaung must comply. Nobody is above the law.
The metro’s financial management, service delivery and housing crisis are confirmed by the latest findings of the Auditor-General (AG). In the 2023/24 financial year, the AG reported that approximately R194 million in conditional grants meant for infrastructure went unspent, while R297 million was withheld by National Treasury due to slow project implementation. Many of these grants were intended for human settlements and infrastructure that support housing delivery. This pattern is not new. In 2020/21, National Treasury withheld roughly R429 million because projects were not completed on time. In 2021/22, the metro forfeited over R400 million in conditional grants. Similarly, the failed social housing projects across Mangaung are testimony to the failures of the ANC in both provincial and local government. If there were ever a genuine concern about human dignity and providing residents with access to adequate housing, as the Mayor now claims, he should explain the serious discrepancy between his public display of concern about the plight of poor and homeless residents and the undisputed monumental failure of his party to provide housing and access to the basic services referred to above.
It is perhaps high time that the Mayor takes instruction from the ANC President, Cyril Ramaphosa, when he requested ANC councillors to learn from DA-run local governments. Where the DA governs, we champion property title deed ownership as a key tool for redress and economic empowerment. Unlike ANC-run Mangaung, our housing delivery goes hand in hand with proper planning and the provision of basic services in safer and better living conditions. In the DA-run Western Cape alone, more than 3 000 fully subsidised houses were completed in the most recent financial year. Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town (CoCT) delivered over 12 400 housing units in the past five years — the highest of any metro in the country. The DA also continues to champion social housing where we govern, with the CoCT working to deliver well-located social housing in places like Founders Garden (1,476 units) and Leeuloop Precinct (840 units). These figures show that dignified housing is possible when development is done lawfully and properly. Residents deserve sustainable solutions that improve living conditions, not relocations that recreate or expand unsafe informal settlements.
Housing interventions must prioritise lawful and proper service delivery that prioritises the health and safety of residents. Cutting corners with people’s lives is unacceptable, and we will continue to act to protect all communities from decisions that place them in harm’s way.
Mangaung was repeatedly challenged in writing to produce records and written proof that what it has envisaged for Lourierpark complies with its own laws and national legislation. The city has, to date, failed and refused to respond to this open invitation. Instead of responding positively and transparently and putting the matter to rest, it is clear that the ANC Mayor, instead of dealing with the undisputed, self-created housing crisis in a city that has been under ANC rule for the past 30 years, has turned his focus to the DA and cheap deflection strategies. The DA will not rest in exposing the truth.