United Democratic Movement leader, Bantu Holomisa, says the recommendations in the Auditor General’s report should be implemented and it must be at the centre of fixing the dire situation in municipalities.
Holomisa was campaigning in Butterworth in the Eastern Cape. He says across the country municipalities have been found wanting.
Holomisa has undertaken to prioritise skills development if his party takes power in some municipalities after the elections.
He has urged people to consider his party as an alternative. He says municipalities must get rid of incompetent officials.
“The Auditor General has published a damming report about our municipalities. What is needed now is to address those problems and in doing so, the first thing is to conduct skills auditing in all our municipalities in this country. The second thing, in the coming local government councillors should make sure that they work closely with the law enforcement agencies to arrest those people who have syphoned billions of rands which were supposed to be planted back to deliver services.”
Holomisa told party supporters that the government needs to accelerate programmes that invest in people.
“The sooner we invest in our people, that is the black South Africans, the better because this thing of people queuing for jobs to get employed by companies, which are owned by three-million white population, yet the 56 million black South Africans nobody is interested in investing in them to be wealth creators and create jobs. So, therefore, there’s a need that we should start a national fund which will be of help to these kids who are coming out of TVET Colleges.”
Residents of Butterworth are appealing for better services. The town has been plagued by water supply issues over the past two years, due to the drought and infrastructure-related problems.
“There’s a lot. We want to see change in our communities. Services are not going to the people because the ANC doesn’t want to work with other parties. It is difficult to get things done because they’re the ones that have a say. We want water and roads.”
In two weeks’ time, South Africans will choose their new local government leaders. Holomisa has urged eligible voters to exercise their right to vote and have a say in their future.
UDM manifesto launch:
