The Deputy Minister of Higher Education Buti Manamela made the remarks during a media briefing on Monday at the ANC headquarters Luthuli House in Johannesburg. It was to unpack Priority 4 of the ANC's election manifesto. Picture: X
The Deputy Minister of Higher Education Buti Manamela said the two metros, the City of Johannesburg and City of Ekurhuleni were a clear result that coalition governments were not the answer for citizens.
Manamela said they were unsustainable, creating delays in service delivery and policy-making as well as leadership inconsistency.
The residents in the two metros have been complaining about a lack of service delivery, load shedding, water outages, crime, and also inconsistent billing of electricity and water.
Recently, the ANC and EFF councillors came to blows at the Ekurhuleni council meeting over the mayor's no-confidence vote.
This was after ActionSA had put forward the motion of no confidence against Mayor Sivuyile Ngodwana owing to his “failure” to deliver services to the people of Ekurhuleni.
While in Johannesburg, residents experienced water outages for two weeks due to the malfunction of Eikenhof, one of the biggest pump stations in the province.
The ANC and EFF are in a coalition government in the two metros.
"Before we had coalitions in Joburg and Ekurhuleni, both those metros were the most stable, yes with challenges, but they had a very good track record in terms of delivering water, electricity, refuse removal, and others.
"But as a result of some of the instabilities, inconsistencies, and anxiety caused by coalition arrangements in these municipalities, we have seen how unstable they have become," Manamela said.
Manamela made the remarks during a media briefing on Monday at the ANC headquarters Luthuli House in Johannesburg. It was to unpack Priority 4 of the ANC's election manifesto.
The manifesto outlines how the ANC aims to invest in people by meeting basic needs for all, investing in education, improving health outcomes, improving service delivery, and expanding the use of science and technology.
However, Manamela said this should be taken as a lesson that coalitions do not work and should be prevented at the national government level.
"Coalitions are unsustainable, they create inconsistencies in terms of policies, service delivery issues, and also in terms of leadership inconsistencies.
"That is why we are calling on people to vote on May 29, obviously for the ANC. If we have the majority, it will help us to avoid all the challenges that we face at the local government," he said.
In addition, Johannesburg Water has updated that it will continue to implement interventions to boost supply and balance the systems to ensure equitable distribution.
kamogelo.moichela@iol.co.za
IOL Politics
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