OPINION

Khayelitsha: Helen Zille’s response to Paul Mashatile

Helen Zille |

08 January 2025

DA FCC rebuts the ANC DP’s claims that Cape Town govt is neglecting the area, only delivers services to suburbs

Part One

1/14 The DP, Paul Mashatile, trying to mobilise interest in Khayelitsha for the ANC’s anniversary rally, employed the usual dishonest diversion tactics. He falsely claimed that the DA run-up City and Province only deliver services to the suburbs and neglects places like Khayelitsha.

2/14 This is patently untrue. The DA delivers more to poor communities than any ANC government anywhere in the country. We do not steal money and we spend it on what the constitution requires us to deliver to people.

3/14 This raises the question: what does the constitution require local and prov government to deliver? There is this delusion that the DA built and maintains Camps Bay and other wealthy suburbs to their current standards. This is not true. Local residents did that.

4/14 The job of local government is to provide basic services: drinkable water, electricity, sewage systems, refuse removal, functional streets, drainage and street lights, and subsidies for public transport. DA govts do this much better than any others in the country.

5/14 There is a delusion that govt should build houses for everyone. This is totally unaffordable in a country of 62-million people with a mere 7,5-million registered personal taxpayers. When people get a free house AND free services, it bankrupts the municipality too.

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6/14 The DA municipalities invest far more in delivering basic services to indigent communities than they do in the suburbs; and given that a very substantial proportion of these services are free, there is massive cross-subsidisation from the haves to the have-nots.

7/14 This is as it should be. But if people want their communities to start looking better there are several basic responsibilities that citizens have. Stop littering and dumping. Stop the vandalisation of infrastructure. Maintain the 1000s of free houses that were

8/14 Plant gardens (veg seeds are inexpensive). Don’t throw refuse and plastic waste down drains, it causes flooding; Don’t dispose of baby nappies and other household waste in toilets, it destroys the sewage system.

9/14 Report any problems (potholes faulty traffic signals) through the council reporting system immediately. Know the name and number of your local councillor (usually an elusive ANC councillor) and require accountability.