BUffalo City mayoral Izimbizo month
MOSES TWEBE COMMUNITY HALL, 3 OCTOBER 2007
Wards 34 and 35 [Dimbaza, Phola Park, Khayelitsha]
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and comrades.
Programme Director, councillors and municipal officials, members of ward committees, business people and honoured guests, good afternoon.
I want to welcome you all very warmly to this Imbizo – I am very encouraged to see you all here because as I look at your faces, I see those veterans who are old enough to be my mothers and my fathers, I see those who are at an age where I can call you my brothers and my sisters, and I see also those young lions and activists who could be my sons and daughters.
I see among you many who were here last year in November when we held our first Imbizo in this hall, and I am encouraged that you are here again because it shows that you continue to believe that you are part of our municipality, and that you have a role to play in your own government.
I am encouraged also because I know that you are all here with a common purpose – you want to be part of the development of your communities, you want to share your ideas and you want to have your voices heard. This is your legitimate expectation and your right.
We are here as Buffalo City councillors, supported by our officials, because when we were elected last year we promised in our election manifesto that during our term of office:
- we would strive to enhance and deepen local democracy;
- we would strive to improve the participation of citizens in the process of decision-making, in the allocation of resources, and the identification of local needs and priorities;
- we would strive to put the people at the centre of development, not merely as beneficiaries, but as drivers of transformation.
The Manifesto went on to say that we are committed to striving to halve unemployment and poverty by 2014 and to ensure that all South Africans are able to enjoy the full dignity of freedom.
It said that we want local government to be effective, democratic and accountable. It said that we will work with communities to speed up the delivery of free basic services, build sustainable human settlements and viable communities, improve public services, build infrastructure, create job opportunities and fight poverty.
It said that we will work to ensure that everybody involved in local government understands and honours their duty to respect and serve the people. This then is our fundamental task and mandate as elected public representatives at a local level.
When we were here last in November 2006, I said then – and I want to repeat it – that we believe that our communities collectively are the Municipality’s most important partner in the management of the affairs of our people, and in driving Buffalo City’s developmental agenda.
We are therefore here because of you, and we are here for you, and not for ourselves.
We are here because our 1996 Constitution, and the local government legislation that followed it, imposed on us the obligation to break with the oppressive political culture of the past, and to govern differently.
I recently made the observation – which I believe is true – that Buffalo City has always led the way in its commitment to a participatory culture that ensures that the letter and spirit of our Constitution and municipal legislation is respected.
We have established ward committees and we have a well-documented annual process of reviewal of our integrated development plan and budget. These are the cornerstones of a participatory democracy.
Of course, that does not mean that the effectiveness of any of our structures or processes cannot be improved. But no citizen or group in Buffalo City can claim that they are not given the opportunity to have their voice heard.
For us as leaders, drawing on the collective wisdom of our people is a basic and indispensable political value and commitment. When we talk in our vision of a Buffalo City that is people-centred, we are echoing not only the aspiration of Kliptown that "the people shall govern", but we are also giving expression to the core African value of ubuntu that is at the centre of our identity.
Our commitment is also reflected in the fact that Buffalo City’s political leadership has always tried to balance the need for quick decision-making with the political imperative to consult widely and to satisfy our political consciences that where we lead, people wish to follow.
In this respect I want to tell you that since I was deployed last year, all the members of my Mayoral Committee have provided much-appreciated leadership and support to me at different times. I am very happy to report to you that Comrade Sithembiso Tyilo continues to do very valuable work as a member of the Mayoral Committee in Buffalo City, taking responsibility for the very important portfolio of housing. Councillor Andile Ntoni also has the critical portfolio in the Mayoral Committee that includes responsibility for public participation. Together with Councillor Ndileka Gedze, Councillor Zelpha Jantjies and your PR councillors, they do a very good job within the Council of advocating the needs and concerns of the broader Dimbaza constituency.
Naturally, comrades, when one is responsible for governance one is required to strike the right balance between fast decision-making, service-delivery and consultation. Our local government laws therefore talk of the need for representative democracy as well as participatory democracy.
We have read in the media of some who say that the government does not consult the people often enough, we hear that the ANC has become arrogant in power and is not concerned about what the masses are saying. Others say without shame that we are making our people into "objects of endless izimbizo".
It goes without saying that the masses of our people who are part and parcel of the people’s movement know that these are distortions and lies.
We are very mindful of the fact that our municipalities and even our institutions of traditional authority cannot function when a particular leadership loses the confidence and support of the people. That is precisely why we have made a commitment to renew our pledge to create a city and a municipality where all of us can have hope and opportunity, where we can all see a future that is better than the past, where we can all own our victories but also where we can all face our challenges together.
This is encapsulated in our vision towards which we have been striving for the past six years: we want a Buffalo City that is "a people-centred place of opportunity where the basic needs of all are met in a safe, healthy and sustainable environment."
This is not a vision only intended for the middle classes or those living comfortably in the suburbs. It is not a vision that favours the coastal areas before the inland areas of Buffalo City, or that says that Mdantsane must be regarded as more important than Dimbaza or Mngqesha or Dikidikana when we are approving our annual budget.
We know very well that none of us at the centre of our economic development can build high walls around ourselves and enjoy the fruits of growth in a sustainable way unless we do everything in our power to ensure that the benefits of such growth are shared as widely as possible. This is true for Buffalo City, it is true for South Africa, and it is true for the world. We cannot have a situation where the poor are trapped forever in their poverty, or are even becoming poorer, while the rich become ever richer.
Comrades, let me turn to where Buffalo City has been, and where we are going. During the State of the City Address at the end of May I said that I am pleased and proud that we are continuing to move forward steadily. I also said that the past year has given me a deeper understanding of the enormity of the challenges that face us as political and administrative leadership in the municipality, and indeed as the broader community of citizens, as we strive to roll back poverty and underdevelopment in Buffalo City.
Collectively, we cannot pretend that we do not still have an enormous task ahead of us as we struggle to create the new and inclusive city and nation in which all of us can enjoy the reality of the better life that we have longed for and worked for.
We know that many of our people continue to suffer the indignity of joblessness and poverty. We know that our township areas are still characterized by third-rate and decaying infrastructure, and our rural areas do not have the economic potential to create jobs for our young people.
We know the distorted logic of apartheid planning that said, "Let us create a dormitory on the other side of the mountain for a labour pool that can find its way to work in our factories and our kitchens and gardens for 8 hours each day, and then return to their own world at night."
Dimbaza is of course a classic example of such a dumping ground. When the architects of Dimbaza sat down with a map to decide where blacks could be relocated to pursue their separate and supposedly equal development, the quality of the infrastructure that was installed – the sewage systems, the water reticulation, the roads and the electricity – left much to be desired.
Also, the social amenities that are essential to support the development of proper human communities were totally insufficient – the township did not have proper halls, clinics, sportsfields or playgrounds.
Dimbaza therefore was the third-class coach in the apartheid train. To make matters worse, after it was installed, the third-class infrastructure was left to disintegrate, which meant that by 2000, after the first fully democratic local government election and the establishment of Buffalo City, the picture that confronted the newly-elected Council was not a pretty one. The rehabilitation costs were very high, far beyond what the new local authority could afford.
So we said as the new Buffalo City, let us have a vision for our people that holds out hope for the future. But much as our vision is supported by all of our communities, we recognize that people do not put visions on the family table for supper. So we must ask ourselves what it means practically for Dimbaza, or Khayelitsha or Phola Park to be people-centred; what it means for this place to be a place where people can enjoy opportunities to live productive, safe and fulfilled lives.
Comrades, if we are honest about our own successes, we must say many local communities around the country have seen positive change in the last five to seven years:
- Roads have been tarred and streets lit for the first time. M
- Water and electricity have been provided where they did not exist.
- Two million houses have been built.
- Free basic services have been provided to millions of households.
- Sporting and recreation facilities have been built and improved.
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- Local government has become more accessible to the people.
We should be proud of these things, even while it will always be said that we could have done more, or done it better or faster. Normally such criticisms are made with the perfect wisdom of hindsight.
But we know, comrades, that all politics is local. Last year, several issues were raised here in Dimbaza. We responded to the majority of them on the spot and promised to attend to those that we could not respond to.
An issue was raised over the absence of playgrounds for children. You will be aware that at that time funds had already been budgeted for projects in the last financial year. We have therefore provided for this issue in the current budget, and playgrounds will be made available for children very soon.
There was also a general complaint that local clinics did not stock enough medicines and they provided poor medical services, and that there was no transport to convey the sick to clinics and hospitals. We have approached the provincial government on this issue since clinics are their competency, and they promised to sort out this matter.
There was also a request for the pace of housing delivery to be accelerated as many people had been on the waiting list for very long periods. It gives me great pleasure to report back to you that, hardly a year thereafter, we have completed 119 units in Khayelitsha. A further 171 units will be completed very soon. We have also approached the provincial government to assist us with funding for more housing units.
Also, we are in the process of rebuilding houses that were originally built with timber, and we are now building them with bricks. A total of 134 units are involved in this project.
The municipality’s programme of building and upgrading sportsfields is ongoing. From the past financial year up to now, we have spent R546,683 upgrading the Dimbaza Stadium.
We have already used R1,7 million upgrading the taxi rank next to Pirie Halt in Thembisa to assist taxi users and taxi operators in this area. Right now the municipality is engaged in a legal wrangle with the contractor because of the sub-standard quality of work, which is why we have not yet released the rank for use. Your councillors will give you feedback on further developments in due course. Nevertheless, I feel I should express a word of gratitude to commuters and operators for their patience in this regard.
The municipality received a sum of R9 million from the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism to build the Dimbaza Wall of Fame that you see going up next to the municipal offices. Amongst other things, that centre will display the names of our local heroes and heroines of the liberation struggle. We also decided to extend this project to the old Dimbaza cemetery near Mannenberg where some of these heroes and heroines are buried, as are the remains of people who died from starvation, sickness and neglect during the apartheid era.
Inside the yard housing the municipal offices there is a library that the municipality established at a cost of R260,000. Already there are computers there that were donated by the British Embassy. Once all the systems are in place, our people will no longer have to travel to King William’s Town for library services.
We have since established that open spaces on which there is no development are a health and safety hazard to people because they accumulate dirt and are used for nefarious purposes by the criminal element. We therefore decided that we should spend R200,000 in the current financial year clearing and cleaning these open spaces. Work has already begun in this programme.
Earlier I mentioned the Khayelitsha housing project. We have allocated R100,000 towards this project in this financial year.
We have allocated a further R500 000 to develop and upgrade sportsfields in the rural areas adjacent to Dimbaza.
Currently, 1,279 local people benefit from the municipality’s indigent subsidy scheme, at an annual cost of R3,6 million to the municipality.
Out of the R100,000 allocated to each ward annually, Dimbaza used R40,000 on roof repairs for the Phola Park hall, a further R5,096 to buy a fridge and a stove, and R51,090 equipping the gym that stands next to this hall.
Our engineering department assisted by constructing roads and installing street lights in Khayelitsha.
The municipality made available R18 million to be shared amongst all the wards in Buffalo City for use in development and upgrading projects. Here in Dimbaza, R160,000 was used to install 80 lights with street control circuits, and to repair approximately 5 km of gravel road at a cost of R255,000. R1,5 million was used beautify the entrance into Dimbaza from the Fort Beaufort side, and R200,000 went into cleaning up the Dimbaza cemetery. An amount of R330,000 was used to create temporary jobs for 253 people drawn from all areas of Buffalo City. Dimbaza also benefited from this relief programme.
When I realized that the R18 million had been not sufficient to satisfy the diverse needs of the different wards in Buffalo City, I decided to provide a further R30 million in this financial year to be used on a similar programme. R5 million will be spent on projects that will benefit women, while R3 million will go into youth programmes. The balance of the funds will be used for other service-delivery priorities such as electricity, roads, and beautification of entrances.
Comrades, we have not just come here to talk, but also to listen. So as I hand back to the Programme Director, I want to invite you again to share your concerns and issues with us, not because we have forgotten what you said to us last year, but rather because we have made a commitment to each year go out to all our areas and engage our people, to listen to your voice and to take it seriously – to create a responsive local government.
Because time is not on our side, my appeal to all of us therefore is to be brief and to the point, debate vigorously but constructively, ask yourself before you speak how your suggestion will take us forward, come with ideas and solutions and not just problems, and let us support each other in trying to find viable and sustainable solutions to the challenges that we face.
We are committed to working together with all of our communities in meeting all of our challenges, and we are confident that standing together, we will be a force to be reckoned with – we know that we have the human, intellectual and physical resources to create the better life that we all want.
I thank you.
N.C. Peter
Executive Mayor,
Buffalo City Municipality
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