Media statement: KwaDukuza Municipality dismayed by fake news and lies reported by the Democratic Alliance

The KwaDukuza Municipality is concerned about the credibility and scorecard-driven press statements that are continuously issued by the Democratic Alliance (DA) caucus leader in KwaDukuza, Cllr. Tammy Colley.

 

Colley has published another fallacious public statement - painting an ugly picture about the municipal council which she presides over as an executive committee member. Her continued effort to undermine the council by spreading unfounded information is becoming her trademark to advance her political career and to please her bosses.

 

In February, the DA in KwaDukuza enjoyed national media audience when the party issued a press statement about a municipal (Masakhane Awards) event which it made fallacious claims - purporting that the municipal programme was to honour ANC activists and that it was directed at empowering ANC volunteers with some form of payments.

 

This morning, Cllr. Colley issued another set of lies, this time claiming that the municipality is using public funds amounting to R8.45 million for political campaigning. She makes a reference to a municipal programme that was recently approved by the council - and by her own admission, it is to fast-track service delivery blockages at the detriment of her party.

While she agrees in principle that the programme is of the communities best interest, she goes on to contradict herself by associating the programme to what she described as a recent recording of an ANC cabinet meeting.

 

It must be put on record that the municipal programme has nothing to do with any recordings of the meeting of cabinet but councils decisive response to ratepayers who raised a number of issues during the mayoral public hearings which were held mid-April. Ratepayers and other stakeholders charged the administration to look into a number of issues including pothole patching, tree-felling and much more, a responsibility which the municipality takes on a day to day bases.

 

The accelerated service delivery programme is part of our normal work of ensuring that we are delivering services. In our last IDP and Budget public hearing which DA councillors did not pitch, ratepayers requested the Mayor to fast track the programme of fixing potholes, streetlights and unblocked blocked stormwater infrastructure. It is strange that the DA is opposing what ratepayers want and this is an indication that DA has lost sight about service delivery and their genuine concerns is about the outcomes of the elections. If the DA ward councillors are genuine about their concern, they must not submit any list of priorities to cluster coordinators before 29 May 2024, and allow council to coordinate this programme with only ratepayers. This will be a demonstration of true leadership coupled with some level of principle.

 

It must be recalled that the DA has never supported any approval of the budget in KwaDukuza for last 12 years but they have been the first to demand services and accountability through press statements. The municipality has been consistent in delivering services and projects funded by the very budget which they have never supported.

 

KwaDukuza Municipality wishes to clarify the following issues that have been raised by Cllr. Colley as part of her campaign to grand-stand at the expense of the municipality - while we still expect Cllr. Colley to retract her statements if she is still considers herself as an ethical leader with a good conscience.

 

1. The 100% Homebrew Festival is the annual event like Ballito Pro which is organised and funded by the municipality. The Homebrew Festival was approved in November 2023 with an intention to celebrate Freedom Day. When this programme was approved, Cllr. Colley said nothing about the no date of elections but is strange that as the nation elections draw to close, suddenly the municipality must stop functioning. The first Homebrew event was held in December 2022 during the Fifa World Cup Final. It is therefore disingenuous for the DA to align the celebration of 30th Freedom anniversary with the campaign work of political parties. And we are not at all upset that the DA does not appreciate that the majority of people who were previously disenfranchised were given an opportunity to vote for the first time in 1994.

 

2. The Human Settlements Turnaround Plan was adopted by Council in November 2023. The administration together with KZN Human Settlements Department have worked very hard to secure a budget for a number of blocked and new housing projects. The budget has been allocated for 2024/2025 KZN financial year through the KwaDukuza Human Settlements Business Plan which has been made available from the 1st of April 2024. The administration is in the process of finalising the appointment of contractors for five funded projects. Definitely, as a normal procedure of the council, contractors are to be introduced by the Mayor and the KZN MEC for Human Settlements. This is done in line with the Batho Pele principle of transparency where the beneficiaries and taxpayers should know what government will be delivering at Mgimgimbe and Nyathikazi. It will be on this occasion that the mayor will be distributing Title Deeds to beneficiaries of human settlements as part of affording their right to security of tenure.

 

Ends

Image credit: africanfact.com - https://shorturl.at/rxY38

 

Sphe Ngobese | sphelelon@kwadukuza.gov.za | 073 784 7822