Residents are losing confidence in ANC - Premier Oscar Mabuyane

Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane has lashed out at the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality yet again on Sunday, saying it was dysfunctional.

He was speaking at the ANC strategic planning workshop.

Addressing members of the ANC, Mabuyane said he was concerned about the city, adding that several attempts to address the metro’s challenges were not yielding results.

“The report by National Treasury following their mid-year visit to the city indicates that governance in the metro has seriously [digressed]," Mabuyane said.

“One example highlighted in the report is the fact that the city has gone through 11 city managers that were approved by council within a period of ten years.

"It goes on to explain that there were many more of them in-between this same period that had not gone through council approval.

"It also argues that since the election of this new coalition council, there have been clear signs of deterioration in leadership and accountability,” he said.  

On August 27 2018, the new ANC, UDM, AIC and UF coalition government came into effect after its members successfully removed the DA-led coalition government.

Since then, the city has received criticism from residents and visitors about the filthy state of the Bay, particularly the townships and northern areas, which are drowning in piles of rubbish.

Bhisho’s co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) portfolio committee also recommended that the provincial government send a support team or take over some of the administrative functions of the city due to the instability and “collapse in governance”.

Mabuyane said the city had not achieved most service delivery targets, especially on housing targets and connections.

He said the strategic planning workshop would give clear guidance to ANC deployees in the council.

“Losing this metro was a great blow for the ANC in the province and if we don’t change and improve on our work, it will be a difficult task to win it back in 2021.

“Although our performance in the region improved in the recent general elections, we are still below the 50% threshold. This means that we are not enjoying confidence from the people of the Nelson Mandela region, which is a huge indictment for a national liberation movement that is supposed to be a leader of society,” he said.

Speaking on the constant service delivery protests in the city, Mabuyane said the ANC was losing support, even in their strongholds.

“The number of protests that have taken place, we are beginning to see, is itself an indication of a growing trust deficit between the people and their movement.

"Communities will not embark on protests if they have confidence in an ANC that can be able to resolve their problems.

"Let us use this workshop to reflect on this reality and come up with strategies of rebuilding the trust and confidence some sections of society have lost in our movement,” Mabuyane said.

The workshop is continuing on Monday. - HeraldLIVE