Mthatha can still be plucked out of its state of misery and filth and restored to its former glory.
These were the sentiments communicated to potential voters by Democratic Alliance premier candidate Nqaba Bhanga during his party’s campaign in Mthatha on Tuesday.
But for it to happen, Bhanga told them, they would have to first vote the ANC out of government and put the DA in power.
Bhanga, who was joined by Gauteng MPL Makashule Gana, national spokesperson Solly Malatsi and DA councillor in King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality Raymond Knock, campaigned at four Mthatha taxi ranks.
“The surfaces of the streets are dripping with raw sewage and water because the municipality has failed to maintain the infrastructure. This should not be an acceptable norm,” he told journalists.
“What we can tell people is that Mthatha is not beyond repairs. It can still be restored to its former glory.”
While many commuters, hawkers, taxi operators and other people welcomed the DA and promised them their votes, Bhanga’s entourage drew curious glances from some at the ranks. Some wanted to know where they could get DA T-shirts while others were overheard complaining that the DA was like other parties that used vulnerable people for votes and then forgot about them soon afterwards.
One taxi operator, who declined to give his name, even told Bhanga at the Jubilee Taxi Rank that Bantu Holomisa’s UDM was in charge in Mthatha and that the DA was better off in the Western Cape.
Others like Thalitha Nompetsheni told the opposition leader that they were tired of making a few bucks as hawkers.
“We need proper jobs which the ANC government has failed to give us,” she said as she accepted a DA pamphlet from Bhanga.
Pensioner Elina Tshela complained that the state pension was too little while food prices were always going up.
She said she had grandchildren to feed from the same pension. Mamntu Gwaba, 60, who operates a stall next to Tshela at the Plaza Mall Taxi Rank also complained about youth unemployment.
Initially she had refused to talk to Bhanga but later told him that all she wanted was for her child to find employment so that she could quit her hawker job.
Wheelchair-bound Zeblon Ntsiba, who fixes and makes shoes at the Jubilee Rank, said he had tried several times to apply for funding to get his own place of business instead of working from the streets.
However, he said he had been shunned by government on many occasions.
“I want my own place because I want to employ many people. Now I work in the open and it gets difficult when it’s too hot. When it rains, I have to stay at home until it stops,” he added.
Bhanga told journalists afterwards that they had decided to take the campaign to Mthatha after receiving complaints about the crime and raw effluent running on street surfaces.
He said Mthatha used to have thriving factories that contributed to the province’s economy.
The DA would fix underground water and sewerage infrastructure and the roads network, initiate a learning experience programme for unemployed youth, and bring skilled police services.
sikhon@dispatch.co.za..