POLOKWANE – The DA in the city joined an outcry on social media after it was learned that a top delegation from the municipality packed their bags for a trip to Zimbabwe at a stage that the city residents have to face severe hardship with a water crisis.
During an urgent council meeting earlier last week, the DA vehemently opposed the council’s decision to approve a trip for Polokwane Mayor John Mpe and municipal manager Thuso Nemugumoni to attend the Joint Provincial Council (JPC) of the Trans-Limpopo Spatial Development Initiative meeting at the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe from October 6-8.
The primary reason for the trip is “to receive reports on the work of the JPC”.
“Rome is burning and the leaders are playing the fiddle on the other side of the border,” DA councillor in the municipality, Franco Marx remarked.
DA caucus leader Jacques Joubert added the party finds the absence of the mayor and municipal manager unacceptable during a time when residents have to endure the extreme hardship of inadequate water provision and distribution.
“Some areas in Polokwane have been without a constant supply of water for 11 weeks and counting, and if the interests of Polokwane residents were at top billing, our mayor and municipal manager would have remained in the city to give the water crisis their full attention. Instead, the duo opted for a lavish breakaway at Vic Falls upon an invite from Premier Chupu Mathabatha,” Joubert said.
Spokesperson for the municipality, Matshidiso Mothapo said that the insinuations by the DA are cheap politicking and electioneering of note created to mislead the public and to discredit the efforts and evidence action taken by the mayor to deal with the water issues affecting the city.
“Using the current water crisis as an opportunity to gain political favour is political grandstanding,” Mothapo reckoned.
According to him, the future of water provision in the province, particularly with discussions around the Musina Makhado Special Economic Zone (SEZ), is dependent on provisioning from Zimbabwe.
“Polokwane is very interested because when water reaches Makhado, Polokwane should be able to tap into the source for the future of the area. The city can therefore not miss the discussion with the Zimbabwean counterparts,” he said.
“The mayor and municipal manager are not on leave, but on a working outward mission sanctioned by the provincial government to engage on the partnership with Bulawayo and the long-term solutions on water security. The mayor only received the letter from the premier to join the work trip this week.”
The municipality is expected to be part of this mission by virtue of the relationship it has with the city of Bulawayo, he remarked, adding that the mayor and municipal manager are required to maintain bilateral engagements with their counterparts on economic opportunities including the promotion of tourism, agriculture and other industrial processing industries and trade investments.
“These partnerships will have long lasting and positive spinoffs for the people of Polokwane,” Mothapo remarked that co-operation with countries from the Sadec region remains crucial for socio-economic development.
