DA leader Mmusi Maimane yesterday vowed to fight in parliament for better housing for Grahamstown township residents whose houses were flattened by a tornado in 2009.
Speaking to a crowd of almost 200 in Hlalani, Maimane vowed he would keep raising the issue of replacing the tiny 3m by 5m temporary houses with proper homes as well as other service delivery failures.
A dozen DA councillors from Makana and nearby Ndlambe waited with the crowd for Maimane to arrive at protest hotspot Hlalani in Grahamstown late in the afternoon to walk door to door with the leader.
Maimane visited several of the flimsy, rundown temporary housing before addressing the crowd.
He urged unhappy residents who wanted change to vote tomorrow for DA candidate Cary Clarke, who will fight it out at the polls with ANC candidate Melikhaya Pongolo for control of Ward 1 after the death of ANC councillor Nomhle Ngoqo in May.
Maimane also spoke about water and housing issues in Hlalani.
He blamed poor infrastructure and a poorly led ANC municipality for the unrest in Hlalani and punted the DA’s Vision 2029.
Ward 1 covers rural areas west of Grahamstown, and includes Riebeeck East, which is the hometown of Makana mayor Zamuxolo Peter.
Hlalani residents showed the opposition leader some of the 175 emergency fold-up homes which were set up after a tornado in 2008.
DA Ward 1 campaign manager Xolani Madyo, who is also a proportional representation councillor, said many infrastructure projects in the area had stalled, especially water-born sanitation.
Madyo said Maimane had visited Hlalani at his invitation to see local service delivery problems up close.
Maimane later told the Dispatch that government had failed to deliver on service delivery promises made to Hlalani residents and other communities across the country.
He urged voters to express their dissatisfaction with the way the ANC was running the country by voting for the DA instead.
Maimane was also expected to sit on a panel at a Rhodes business school discussion last night. — davidm@dispatch.co.za
DA brings Maimane in for Makana ward by-election
Speaking to a crowd of almost 200 in Hlalani, Maimane vowed he would keep raising the issue of replacing the tiny 3m by 5m temporary houses with proper homes as well as other service delivery failures.
A dozen DA councillors from Makana and nearby Ndlambe waited with the crowd for Maimane to arrive at protest hotspot Hlalani in Grahamstown late in the afternoon to walk door to door with the leader.
Maimane visited several of the flimsy, rundown temporary housing before addressing the crowd.
He urged unhappy residents who wanted change to vote tomorrow for DA candidate Cary Clarke, who will fight it out at the polls with ANC candidate Melikhaya Pongolo for control of Ward 1 after the death of ANC councillor Nomhle Ngoqo in May.
Maimane also spoke about water and housing issues in Hlalani.
He blamed poor infrastructure and a poorly led ANC municipality for the unrest in Hlalani and punted the DA’s Vision 2029.
Ward 1 covers rural areas west of Grahamstown, and includes Riebeeck East, which is the hometown of Makana mayor Zamuxolo Peter.
Hlalani residents showed the opposition leader some of the 175 emergency fold-up homes which were set up after a tornado in 2008.
DA Ward 1 campaign manager Xolani Madyo, who is also a proportional representation councillor, said many infrastructure projects in the area had stalled, especially water-born sanitation.
Madyo said Maimane had visited Hlalani at his invitation to see local service delivery problems up close.
Maimane later told the Dispatch that government had failed to deliver on service delivery promises made to Hlalani residents and other communities across the country.
He urged voters to express their dissatisfaction with the way the ANC was running the country by voting for the DA instead.
Maimane was also expected to sit on a panel at a Rhodes business school discussion last night. — davidm@dispatch.co.za
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