Speech by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille, at
the full Council meeting on 29 May
Mr Speaker
Good morning, goeie dag, molweni, as-salaam-alaikum, shalom.
I would like to warmly welcome here today the newly appointed CEO of the
Cape Chamber of Commerce, Dr Rueben Richard, and wish him all the very
best for his tenure.
I would also like to welcome Mr Charles Robertson, CEO of Visual
International Holdings – a Cape Town-based property company which just
last week listed on the JSE.
What made this listing particularly significant is that they provided share
ownership directly to low income beneficiaries. We hope that you continue
to invest in Cape Town and help create much needed jobs.
Speaker, the last months have seen South Africa’s democracy at its vibrant,
lively best.
Various political parties took their message to the voters, hoping to make a
make an impact and influence decisions when it came to putting that mark
on the ballot paper.
On that note, I would like to congratulate President Jacob Zuma and the
ANC on their victory.
In this heightened political climate – despite being a general election – the
City’s delivery record was very much part of the public debate.
I am proud that again and again, our record as the leading provider of
service delivery in the country was reaffirmed. Despite the best efforts of
those parties and individuals who sought to mislead and divide.
We are all by now well aware of the outcome of the elections, but it is worth
emphasising that the people of the Western Cape, of which Cape Town is a
major component, returned the government of Premier Helen Zille to office
with an increased majority.
This renewed mandate is testimony to the strength of governance in the
province, as well as in the City.
The fact that life is better where the DA governs is reflected in numerous
national government and independent reports.
Just this week, the Institute of Race Relations found that seven of the 10 bestrun municipalities are in the Western Cape, with the City of Cape Town
counted in this number.
The report found that Cape Town, the biggest municipality in the top 10, had
an ‘impressive record’ in dealing with the pressures posed by rapid
urbanisation.
It is unsurprising that eight of the worst run municipalities are in the Eastern
Cape – the ANC’s heartland.
This finding came on the back of the recent release of the South African
Customer Satisfaction Index, which found that the City of Cape Town was
head and shoulders above other municipalities in South Africa – with Cape
Town’s satisfaction rating 17,8% higher than the municipal average.
I am also pleased to inform Council that Cape Town was recently named the
top municipality in the African Utility Week Awards.
The awards recognised the City of Cape Town’s excellence in delivering
world class services and cost minimisation initiatives.
In winning this award Cape Town outperformed the two other finalists, the
Ekurhuleni Metro and the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro – as well as the
Johannesburg Metro and eThekwini Municipality nominees.
In nominating Cape Town for this award, Eskom and a private entity from the
water sector lauded the City’s exceptional infrastructure planning; financial
management; water savings management; and electricity provision.
This then is an outstanding achievement and I would like to congratulate the
Executive Director responsible, Dr Gisela Kaiser, and her team for making the
City proud.
In the face of such overwhelming evidence that DA-led governments are
more effective at delivery, it is perhaps unsurprising that the ANC is
increasingly resorting to desperate and underhanded measures to try and
discredit our efforts.
During the course of the recent elections it became clear that the ANC
would stop at nothing to lure DA Councillors into their ranks.
Criminal charges have now been laid in relation to the conduct of a senior
ANC Councillor present today in this Chamber.
This ANC Councillor is alleged to have offered a sizeable tender to a DA
Councillor in exchange for joining the ranks of the ANC.
In the same conversation, it is further alleged that this ANC Councillor also
detailed how similar offers were made to Grant Pascoe, in a way that would
be difficult to detect or find through the use of an intermediary.
I will leave this matter to investigation by the necessary authorities, but what it
does show is just how morally bankrupt the ANC has become in this city and
in this province.
The residents of this city deserve better than this from political leaders.
However, they can rest assured that the DA-led City of Cape Town will rise
above this kind of cheque book politics and not be deterred from our
mandate of delivering to all residents of this great city.
Speaker, on a happier note, the conclusion of the recent elections also
precipitated changes to the Mayoral Committee (Mayco).
I am confident that the new members of the Mayco will add to our collective
strength, and will provide fresh insight and drive as we tackle the remaining
two years of our term of office.
Despite what some may claim, the Mayco and the broader leadership of the
City is a diverse team, drawing individuals from different backgrounds and
lived experiences.
I would again like to take this occasion to congratulate them on their
appointment and to wish them all the very best in their endeavours.
Mr Speaker, yesterday this Council approved the budget, which will underpin
our delivery to all residents over the next financial year.
A budget which I must stress again is unashamedly pro-poor and one that is
aimed at ensuring that we maintain and expand our world-class
infrastructure.
With the passing of the budget and the end of the sideshows of election
season, we will be able to focus again on the important day-to-day work of
Council.
We are more determined than ever to accelerate our efforts to ensure that
we retain our position as the best-run local government in South Africa and
that we strengthen our delivery to all residents.
At times the issues that confront us are complex, where despite our best
efforts it is not always possible to reach consensus with communities.
Speaker, one of the painful ironies of governing is that it is often when delivery
takes place that the most community conflict is generated.
A powerful illustration of this dynamic is evidenced by the City’s tireless efforts
to address the needs of those residents affected by the terrible New Year’s
Day fire in 2013, in BM section, Mfuleni.
Since that fateful day, the City has implemented a rescue plan to assist the
affected residents.
A temporary relocation areas (TRA) was constructed within weeks of the fire
and the first 450 beneficiaries were issued with enhanced fire kits; shortly
thereafter 332 families were accommodated at a second TRA.
At the same time, the City worked closely with the donors and humanitarian
organisations to provide additional relief.
All along, the intended long-term solution to settling the fire victims was the
development of an incremental development area (IDA), which would have
been an extension to an existing IDA in the Mfuleni Area, known as the
Bosasa IDA.
Speaker, due to the development being of a formal nature, it required
extensive land use and other approvals.
In an effort to expedite these complex processes, the City therefore attainted
cooperation from all relevant statutory bodies to ensure that the relevant
approvals were granted without unnecessary delay.
The City further ensured that the planning and design phase was concluded
as speedily as possible, with a contractor appointed in July 2013.
However, the project was placed on hold since its inception due to
resistance by the Mfuleni community.
Despite numerous meetings, the signing of development agreements and
range of other interventions, these disruptions have been ongoing.
The contractor has been disrupted on numerous occasions, due to resistance
from the Burundi community and the Mfuleni Ward 16 backyarder
committee.
In desperation, the City successfully obtained an interdict in March this year
against parties/individuals known to be causing these disruptions.
In addition, the City placed security on site, but this proved ineffectual as the
site remained subject to extensive vandalism.
The net result of this community resistance is that a project that was meant to
be completed before the onset of the winter rains has stalled.
This means that residents of BM section, WB section, Burundi and other
emergency cases in Ward 16 will not be provided with the benefit of a fully
serviced TRA.
Worse still, the project will likely be delayed to beyond winter as much of the
work is reliant on favourable weather conditions.
I have gone into the detail above to illustrate the depth of the City’s
commitment to ensuring delivery, but also to show that, despite our best
efforts, we have been thwarted by community resistance at virtually every
turn.
Speaker, I wish to be very clear here today.
The City will always remain committed to ensuring that we deliver to all
residents of Cape Town, most especially the poor and the marginalised.
But equally, we must not allow ourselves to waste time and resources if we
are to be undermined by continual community resistance.
Simply put, if a community continues to resist despite our best efforts, then we
will simply move our focus to communities that are prepared to work with us.
Speaker, a fundamental value underpinning this administration is that we
want to work in partnership and in a collaborative manner with all
communities.
We need such partnerships at community level in order to ensure that we
achieve our mutual aims.
I would therefore in conclusion like to appeal to all Councillors to ensure that
they work constructively with communities and the City to unlock delivery.
In so doing we will be able to illustrate how successful we can be, when we
make progress possible, together.
Thank you.