Political infighting, alleged corruption in OR Tambo Municipality halts District Development Model implementation

Political infighting and corruption allegations in the OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape have seen the implementation of the District Development Model coming to a halt.

Billions of rands were injected into the first pilot project launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2019. The funds were meant for integrated infrastructural development projects, ranging from building and revitalisation of water supply reservoirs.

Political infighting and corruption allegations led to the collapse of the administration. But the new council says it is ready to implement the project.

Mayor Mesuli Ngqondwana says Treasury has allocated more than R289 million for the completion of the outstanding projects.

“We are progressing very well which led to the Treasurer releasing an amount of R200 million rand sometime in December which made us to be able to cover some tracks in advancing other responsibilities and once again they have since released R89 million which will specifically go to some capital projects. So this means that we are at a position now where we can start moving back to our responsibility of delivering on our capital projects especially that relates to water.”

Residents say they want water and sanitation projects to be finalized. Ntombifikile Maya and Bongiwe Cenga say the situation on the ground needs more attention from the municipality.

“We started settling in this area in 2013, we do not have roads, we do not have water, the road you see now is much better than the ones in this village, it is because the villagers had to contribute R500 per household to fix it, we cannot drive on it, we do not have access to clean water, we do not have toilets, we are really deserted,” says Maya.

“Our main challenge here is water, we do not have water, we are dependent on rainwater, if there is no rain, we are forced to walk a long distance to ask for water from the opposite village,” says Cenga.

The video below reports on  CoGTA launching the  District Development Model in partnership with UN in 2021: