DA shares Nelson Mandela Bay successes in the wake of possible Trollip ousting

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has shared some of the party’s successes in its coalition-led Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, where the DA mayor Athol Trollip is likely to be voted out soon.

The Citizen reported that Trollip’s future as the metro’s mayor hangs in the balance after opposition parties in the municipality’s council decided to join forces to oust him.

These parties are the African National Congress, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), United Democratic Movement, African Independent Congress, Patriotic Alliance and the United Front Eastern Cape.

The DA said during a press briefing on Friday prudent budgeting had led to the establishment of the first metro police service in the city, which is also a first in the Eastern Cape.

According to the party, the metro police, working closely with the SAPS, managed an 11% reduction of gang-related crimes in the metro’s most dangerous communities such as Helenvale.

The party said the pilot project, Shot Spotter, launched at Helenvale, had improved law enforcement response times and resulted in a number of crucial arrests being made.

“The service has grown to 135 officers and 38 patrol vehicles with a specialised bicycle unit, ghost squad and bylaw enforcement unit in operation. It has been such a success that the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Police Department’s Annual Police Plan format was adopted as the blueprint to be used by all metro police departments nationwide,” the party said in a statement.

The DA said it had turned around the city’s finances through rooting out corrupt senior officials in the metro, among other interventions.

“The City is now liquid with over R2 billion in the bank, has a steadily rising collection rate and achieves some of the best capital expenditure in the country,” the party said.

The organisation said it had spent billions on capital works that directly improved service delivery and the lives of the poor.

The party further provided updates on the other metros where it leads, namely City of Johannesburg and Tshwane.

Party leader Mmusi Maimane joined by Tshwane Mayor Solly Msimanga and Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba, gave the update at Greater Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Friday.

"R100 billion in pro-poor budgets was successfully passed in these governments. This is indicative of our commitment to better the lives of South Africans." – @MmusiMaimane#DAdelivers pic.twitter.com/uf7uV6Ncox

— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) August 3, 2018

Meanwhile, The Citizen reported the opposition parties would submit a petition to council speaker Jonathan Lawack on Friday requesting a meeting at which an anti-Trollip no-confidence motion would be raised and voted on.

Trollip has survived repeated EFF motions of no confidence in him.

The opposition parties hold a combined 61 of the metro council’s 120 seats, giving them the majority to form a governing coalition in Nelson Mandela Bay.

ALSO READ: Athol Trollip has back against the wall, set to be voted out next week

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