‘DA has managed to segregate the poor and the wealthy’

The resignation on Monday of Randall Williams, the Democratic Alliance (DA) mayor of City of Tshwane, has not come as a surprise.

But what is shocking is that the DA is still refusing to acknowledge its mistakes. Every time the party comes short, they simply shift the blame and boast about their successes in the Western Cape.

Unless the people of Khayelitsha, Philippi and Gugulethu enjoy the good governance which the DA is talking about in Cape Town, then one is not convinced about their success story.

Townships are neglected

Like the Cape Town’s bad weather, the city is cold in terms of service delivery to townships. The DA’s so-called good governance is more visible when a plane is about to land at the Cape Town International Airport.

There is a shocking sight of rows of shacks on the ground that will assure one that they are now in Cape Town.

This eyesore is an assurance that housing delivery for the poor is nonexistent in this part of the country. If the majority of DA supporters are black – like it was the case during the recent march on the ANC headquarters at Luthuli House in Johannesburg – then it is a disgrace for Cape Town township residents to live in such squalor while the party prides itself with good governance.

Poor and wealthy segregated

In the Western Cape and other areas where it governs, the DA has managed to segregate the poor and the wealthy.

Townships are not prioritised. In Joburg, before DA mayor Dr Mpho Phalatse was removed, the party was running the city to the ground.

And now in Ekurhuleni, service delivery is also poor. Under Williams’ administration, which is under a coalition, the City of Tshwane has had about R10 billion missing and unaccounted for, according to the auditor-general’s report.

The DA has completely run the city’s finances dry and is now running away from accountability. All they do is to blame the ANC for corruption as if the DA hasn’t been governing Tshwane since 2016.

Williams has done nothing but to disadvantage the residents of Tshwane, especially those who live in townships and informal settlements.

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‘Nothing but pain’

He has brought nothing but pain to them. Ever since he took charge, he has unfairly set high rates and service charges, further stressing the elderly who are dependent on social grants. The municipality has rendered the policy of the poorest of the poor – that previously provided poor families with free litres of water and kilowatts of electricity – ineffective.

This has created another problem of illegal electricity connections that are a danger to communities. And, unfortunately, the DA has not been bothered by that.

The poor are left to fend for themselves and to wallow in desperate situations. They are unable to look for work opportunities and students have to incur costs when they do research for school projects because the DA has disconnected the free Wi-Fi services at public centres.

Instead of building roads, the DA under Williams has tried to patch potholes which have been washed away by rain, resulting in poor communities having no proper roads.

In addition, they have neglected blocked drainage systems which are now causing flooding when it rains. The municipality has continuously failed to collect waste and this has created communities that must succumb to a filthy environment.

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Williams, with his coalition partners, has left sewage that is flowing from homes unaddressed. Further creating an unhealthy situation for the people to adapt to. Today, many streetlights and traffic lights are dysfunctional, endangering the lives of people.

This is not what we call good governance. The DA has truly left a legacy of collapsing services. This is pure grounds of denying the party another candidate to be mayor. For they have dismally failed with distinction to govern the city.

The party may say Williams resigned due to health reasons or he is trying to ensure that the coalition in Tshwane is stable, but deep down the party knows it has destroyed the city and Williams is shielding himself from embarrassment.

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-Mthembu is News24’s Young Mandela 2022 winner in the leadership category