The Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen has accused the African National Congress (ANC)-led government of taking advantage of the resilience of South Africans to avoid addressing the challenges they are facing.
He was addressing DA members who were picketing at the Durban City Hall.
The DA members are demanding the dissolution of the ANC-Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) controlled eThekwini metro council, which they say is failing to deliver basic services.
The party says governance has collapsed under the coalition as residents are subjected to power and water shedding.
Steenhuisen says in Durban’s Besters area there are people who have been without water for 14 years and the elderly pay people to carry water to their homes.
“Instead of fixing the infrastructure; instead of getting into the ground and fixing the pipes and taking the money that’s required to replace pipes that should have been replaced 20 years ago. What do they now do? They’re taking your money and they’re giving lucrative water container contracts to their friends. So, the ANC and their cronies are getting rich off the back of the suffering of our people.”
The DA is also demanding thousands of rands from households that have been wrongfully receiving the free, pro-poor basic water benefit for three years.
The DA staging a picket outside the eThekwini Municipality, demanding that the council led by the ANC/EFF/NFP coalition to be dissolved. The party is accusing the municipality of corruption. They also want service delivery. #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/tkKVMeTCaK
— Vusi Khumalo (@djvuslo) January 20, 2024
Additional reporting by Khalesakhe Mbhense.
