The DA in Nelson Mandela Bay will not support a state of disaster report to be tabled at Thursday’s council meeting if it fails to address the refurbishment of the Kariega stormwater canal, the Gibbon Street bridge and the cleaning of stormwater drains.
The report is to be presented again to the council after being rejected by a majority of councillors at Friday’s meeting.
The document outlines the extensive damage caused by last week’s floods, which damaged shacks and houses, displacing thousands of people, and affected electricity systems, road networks and municipal facilities.
The DA plans to escalate its concerns over what it terms the neglect of Kariega to co-operative governance MEC Zolile Williams and the national government, in the hope of speeding up the restoration of flood-damaged infrastructure.
The party’s caucus leader in the Bay, Rano Kayser, said official commitments to repair infrastructure in Kariega had not been met.
“I’ve met the acting city manager twice to discuss these matters.
“Everything we agreed upon has not been done, and we won’t condone officials’ incompetence.”
Rano said the report failed to show where the money allocated in response to the June floods had been spent.
“We can’t support it [state of disaster report] while the people of Roets Street live in unfavourable conditions and could be affected by the overflow of the canal if we get heavy rains again.
“We can’t support it if the bridge that links KwaNobuhle with the economy of this town is not repaired.
“It will also not be supported if the cleaning and maintenance of stormwater drains is not included.”
Roads and transport political head Bradley Murray highlighted the stormwater drain maintenance challenge at Friday’s council meeting.
The issue was one of the reasons the report was rejected.
DA MPL Retief Odendaal said the party would raise the deterioration of Kariega’s infrastructure with the provincial and national government.
“We believe it has taken too long for the municipality and the provincial government to intervene.
“What we see here is raw sewage that goes into this broken canal and directly to the Swartkops River and poses a health risk to all the communities on that route.”
HeraldLIVE
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