Few issues unite Nelson Mandela Bay’s political parties quite like the state of the city’s streetlights.
Drive through any area after the sun sets, and the problem is impossible to ignore.
Entire stretches of road are in darkness.
Residents worry about crime.
Motorists navigate poorly lit intersections.
Business owners complain about safety and declining public confidence.
Regardless of their political allegiances, few Bay residents would dispute that the city’s failing streetlight network has become an untenable situation.
It is against this backdrop that the DA has escalated its campaign over the controversial LED streetlight tender, taking its concerns directly to the Union Buildings and calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene.
The politics may dominate the headlines, but the bigger issue is accountability.
Ramaphosa appointed the SIU to investigate allegations surrounding the tender.
Its work has been done.
The question is what happens next.
The DA argues that the municipality ignored a 90-day deadline to implement the SIU’s recommendations and is attempting to frustrate the process.
If true, this would undermine public confidence not only in Nelson Mandela Bay’s administration but also in the value of SIU investigations themselves.
Investigations that end with reports gathering dust do little to deter future misconduct.
The municipality, however, presents a different story.
It says the SIU report has been tabled before council and that internal disciplinary, governance and legal processes are under way.
It argues that labour law, procedural fairness and procurement legislation prevent it from acting hastily or prejudging officials before due process has run its course.
That is not an unreasonable position.
The difficulty is that the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has acquired a credibility problem.
Years of political instability, coalition battles, repeated procurement controversies, deteriorating infrastructure, financial distress and service delivery failures have eroded the public’s trust.
Accountability should not become another casualty of political point scoring.
If the DA’s allegations are correct, they deserve thorough investigation.
If the municipality’s processes are genuinely progressing, it should demonstrate that through transparency rather than broad assurances.
We are entitled to know which recommendations have been implemented, which remain outstanding and why.
Follow The Herald WhatsApp channel today and stay connected to the stories shaping our world.
The Herald
