Balfour: Five years on and no sign
of Zuma promises
As our provincial tour continues
from municipality to municipality, we are becoming increasingly aware of the
extent of the downwards spiral consuming Mpumalanga.
All across the province,
municipalities wait desperately for the ANC to deliver on its promise of a
better life for all. Balfour in Dipaleseng is no different; in fact, the living
conditions of thousands of its residents have gone from bad to worse,
particularly in the past five years.
In 2009, after a series of violet
service delivery protests in Balfour, President Jacob Zuma made an unannounced
visit to the area and promised to provide the people with the basic services
they so desperately needed. He later returned with a team of cabinet ministers
to investigate and make more promises to Balfour residents.
Nearly five years later, the
people of Balfour still do not have decent roads, electricity, housing or
sanitation.
Communities that have existed for
over 10 years still live in cramped tin shacks without electricity and forced
to use the nearby bushes as toilets because they have no access to decent
sanitation.
In a February 2012 report entitled
Glimmer of Hope, the Public Protector released her findings after
investigating allegations of maladministration and poor governance in Dipaleseng.
Her recommendations have yet to implemented.
It’s clear that the ANC government
has all but forgotten about the plight of the thousands of people living in
dire poverty in Dipaleseng.
A DA government would not allow
for the deterioration of any municipality under its care, because where the DA
governs, people come first.
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