Heated debate after State of the City Address.
"The train moves on - you can either climb on or live with the consequences of sleeping on the station."
These are the words of Mayor Mondli Gungubele at the debate held today (March 26) following the State of the City Address.
Council members convened again today to debate the matters raised by Mayor Mondli Gungubele at the address.
Political party members raised issues they had with what the Mayor did, or did not, address in his speech.
DA council members stressed the fact that Ekurhuleni needs to get back to basics.
“Let’s get back to basics and review the real state of the city,” says DA Councillor Melanie Haggard.
Springs Ward Councillor Ramesh Sheodin says, “The state of our cities speak volumes.
“The financial statements are littered with reports of fraud and wasteful expenditure.”
He says the mayor comprehensively covered every aspect of challenges in the metro such as employees, water, electricity, sewage, roads and service delivery, but the solutions are inadequate.
Members of council also raised the point of the townships in Ekurhuleni, saying that the townships are tired of waiting for empty promises.
Councillor Heather Hart says, “Our towns are becoming like townships.”
ANC councillor M Sithole says he thinks there is an area of improvement between EMPD and SAPS working together.
He says that he doesn’t see any improvement in the EMPD officers controlling traffic at robots that are off due to load shedding.
Councillor Izak Berg from Independent Ratepayers Association of South Africa told the mayor that people do not need a leader who lives in the past.
Mayor Gungubele responded that if that is what he says, then he did not listen to the speech he gave in the State of the City Address, upon which he quoted, “The foundation of human cohesion which finds expression in unity, non-racism, non-sexism, democracy and prosperity.
“To us, non-racialism in South Africa is what our forefathers died for. What they fought for.”
