United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa says encouraging citizens to vote in the November 4th Local Government Elections might discourage them if they live in municipalities that have collapsed due to corruption and poor administration.
UDM launched of its national election manifesto in Alexandra, Johannesburg earlier this month.
Holomisa has called on government to resolve the integration of former homeland systems that remain outside the national framework more than 30 years after 1994.
He has long argued that the reintegration of the apartheid-era homeland system was economically flawed and poorly managed.
Holomisa says some of the former homelands lack proper infrastructure including roads and electricity.
He says, “We are just encouraging people to participate and in strengthening our democracy but the key here is that we won’t succeed in all these municipalities if the national government is not playing a central role.”
Homolisa adds, “Some of the towns are already under stress because of lack of services, due to lack of proper infrastructure. The Homelands infrastructure has never been integrated to the developed infrastructure by the apartheid government.”
