The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Ekurhuleni has slammed the ANC and its coalition partners for their inability and lack of political will, to tackle the 39% unemployment rate in the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE).
This is in response to written questions the DA posed to the ANC appointed MMC for Finance and Economic Development, Cllr Doctor Xhakaza. In his response, he revealed that his department spent a total of R606 730 761 on capital projects over the last 5 years, which only resulted in the creation of 696 jobs.
It should be noted that the 696 jobs created include Expanded Publics Works Programme (EPWP) work opportunities – which don’t qualify as dignified full-time employment.
Furthermore, when asked if the projects achieved their intended impact, Cllr Xhakaza indicated that they did. This is the mediocracy the failing ANC views as a success.
The projects for which this money was budgeted and spent was intended to uplift economically depressed areas – particularly in townships. However, it is clear that this has made little to no impact.
Many of these facilities currently stand in a state of disrepair such as Barcelona Trading Stalls, Etwatwa Township Enterprise Hubs, Ekurhuleni Skills Development Centre (Vosloorus), Reiger Park Enterprise Hub and Ramaphosa Vocational Skills Trading Centre.
Instead of ensuring that basic services are delivered, such as reliable energy supply, provision of clean water and regular infrastructure maintenance, the ANC and its coalition partners are more interested in adding to its collection of white elephants. Ekurhuleni is littered with botched ANC projects which continue to fall into a state of disrepair, while residents and communities are neglected.
Over the last 5 years in the DA-run City of Cape Town, the Department of Enterprise and Investment invested more than R233 million towards training and job placement in core sectors. This resulted in 27 137 jobs being created and trained 11 025 personal for work readiness.
The DA gets things done. This is the DA difference. In a DA-led Ekurhuleni, we would roll out a skills and employment accelerator project, specifically focusing on marginalised youth and women empowerment.
We would get the basics right, which means providing reliable and sustainable services such as electricity and water. This would foster business reinvestment into Ekurhuleni and with incentive programmes that get new economic hubs across the city operational, we will be able to help build the local economies and ease the burden of unemployment.
The once-thriving industrial hub of Ekurhuleni needs to be reignited. By making it easier to start a business in Ekurhuleni and incentivising the establishment of businesses in township areas, as well as assisting with sourcing seed capital for Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs). Through these community-focused initiatives, we can get Ekurhuleni working.
With the upcoming local municipal elections, we encourage all residents to exercise their right to vote and vote for a party that gets things done.