A forgotten warehouse in Wadeville was the setting for the DA’s Ekurhuleni election manifesto launch.
This unusual choice of venue aimed to bring home the DA’s views on how many jobs and potential investments have been lost in the metro.
“It is a sad reality that today Ekurhuleni is the ‘capital of unemployment’ in South Africa,” said DA mayoral candidate for Ekurhuleni, Ghaleb Cachalia, last Thursday.
“With 110 000 jobs lost just since January 2016, in Ekurhuleni, we are witnessing a full blown crisis of unemployment, a crisis that the government seems to have no solutions to.”
The DA, with Cachalia at the helm, have pledged their commitment to turning this bleak situation around by creating jobs in the metro.
“I have been privileged to work in businesses where I have created jobs before.
“Thousands of jobs, through commitment and dedication and through a thriving, functional metro, can be created and I pledge to do so; I pledge to bring the change we need to move Ekurhuleni forward again,” he said.
The DA’s manifesto did not focus just on job creation, but on the safety of the metro’s residents, as well as service delivery.
“To fight crime, we will create easy and speedy access to justice; we will establish effective municipal and community courts to handle prosecutions for traffic offences and by-law contraventions, to reduce pressure on magistrates courts,” Cachalia said.
“We will launch technology that monitors crime hotspots and gunshot sounds, and link these directly to the EMPD, and will provide real-time crime statistics which are readily available internally and to the public.”
The DA also plans to focus on improving the EMPD and will partner with communities, faith, and a non-governmental organisations to encourage the metro’s youth to stay away from crime and drugs.
In regard to service delivery and housing, the DA plans to provide the most comprehensive basket of free basic municipal services for all qualifying households.
“We will achieve this by implementing an indigent policy, the DA will provide relief to those residents who are unable to afford basic necessities, this basket would be funded, in part, through the implementation of sustainable and fair cross-subsidisation of rates and tariffs,” explained Cachalia.
The DA further promised to implement integrated planning and careful monitoring in the setting and achieving of service delivery targets essential to maintaining safe public spaces.
“This manifesto is my promise to you, the people of the metro, to ensure good governance and create an accountable government,” Cachalia said.
“Now is the time to revive Ekurhuleni.”
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