Political parties have mixed feelings ahead of the State of the City Address
The DA and EFF in Polokwane say they are pessimistic about the Polokwane Mayor, John Mpe's first State of the City Address tomorrow.
POLOKWANE – As Polokwane Mayor John Mpe gears up to deliver his first State of the City Address (Soca), there are mixed feelings among opposition parties represented in the council.
Mpe will deliver his address at the Jack Botes Hall in Polokwane tomorrow (June 24).
DA Councillor Jacques Joubert told Review the DA will not attend the address because they have heard too many speeches and not seen enough action on all promises made in the past.
“We are seven months into this new term and we need to see greater steps taken on general service delivery issues,” Joubert said.
Joubert cited their recent meeting with the mayor around debt in Mankweng as a result of residents receiving water without paying for it is a pressing issue yet to be thoroughly addressed.
According to him, this non-payment is a loss of revenue.
EFF Councillor Freddy Ramaphakela confirmed they will attend the address, though with a lot of pessimism and misgivings.
He told Review that the party has mixed feelings about Soca.
“Nonetheless, we expect the mayor to be honest with the people even though we don’t expect anything out of the ordinary.”
On behalf of the Abantu Batho Congress, Councillor Jerry Hine said they expect the mayor to give tangible plans for the creation of employment and the fast-tracking of efforts to turn Polokwane into a metro.
“If he can focus on service delivery, revenue collection and intensify industrialisation to benefit job seekers, we will be happy. We also need him to foster a relationship between the private and public sectors. We want a clean audit report. We know there are strategic positions in the municipality which are yet to be filled, but we noted that they are advertising and we hope they will fill these positions soon,” he said.
