GQEBERHA – African National Congress (ANC) National Chairperson Gwede Mantashe, along with Nelson Mandela Bay Executive Mayor, Babalwa Lobishe, conducted a campaign trail in KwaZakhele on 20 September. They visited St Barnabas Church and held a community engagement.

They skipped the door-to-door programme which was supposed to take place at 10:00 according to the ANC schedule.

Speaking during the engagement, Mantashe urged party members to campaign by reminding people of what the ANC had achieved, saying members should not be ashamed of the party’s record.

He called on members to highlight the ANC’s social welfare policies when engaging with the community door-to-door. He pointed to the introduction of the support grant, which did not exist before.

He also addressed the concept of “no-fee schools,” clarifying that there is no such thing.

“It is a fee school; it is just that the schools are not paid for by the parents, they are paid for by the government. That is a policy of the African National Congress,” he said.

Mantashe highlights ANC’s ‘social welfare record’

Mantashe pointed to the Fees Must Fall protests as a key moment for access to higher education.

“People protested, saying fees must fall, and out of that they were given NSFAS and placed in universities, although they came from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

He said the ANC’s campaigning work is to remind people of what the party has delivered over the past 22 years.

On housing, Mantashe said RDP houses were built for people subjected to forced removals. He acknowledged criticism that the houses are small but explained the design reasoning.

“The houses are small because the first Minister of Human Resources, Joe Slovo, gave people basic structures with a big yard so that when they have money, they can extend the houses.”

He said the ANC has built and handed over 4.9 million houses. “Those are the things that you should speak about and not be ashamed of,” he said.

Housing delivery takes centre stage

Community members raised questions and complaints during the engagement. Mayor Babalwa Lobishe addressed several issues, including recreational parks, rates collection, gender-based violence, and crime.

On recreational parks, Lobishe responded to concerns about why the municipality builds parks it cannot maintain.

She said parks were handed over to the community, making it their responsibility to look after them.

“Parks were built and handed over to the community. It is the community’s responsibility to guard the asset because it belongs to you as a community.”

She defended the decision to build recreational facilities. “We were not wrong by building recreational facilities so that children can play and adults be able to exercise,” she said.

Lobishe responds to service delivery concerns

Lobishe pointed to unpaid rates and illegal electricity connections as factors limiting the municipal budget.

“There is one thing that is limiting our budget, it is caused by the community when it is not paying their rates. If we were to take your addresses now, there is a possibility that 99% of people here are using electricity illegally,” she said.

“They are not paying rates but daily they want something. The municipality’s responsibility is to collect the rates. We do want to do more, but the community must also assist us.”

On gender-based violence, Lobishe said it has been declared a national disaster and referred to national government funding and responsibilities relating to policing.

“Nationally, GBV has been termed a national disaster. There is funding to the Ministry of Police. The Deputy Minister is the one responsible to come here,” she said.

She added that the municipality plans to hold sessions next month aimed at empowering communities on how to deal with GBV across all six clusters of the metro.

Municipality outlines plans to tackle crime

Regarding crime, Lobishe said the municipality has a plan working alongside the police.

“We do have a plan with the police, as you can see that Metro police oftentimes go along with the police,” she said.

She noted that last year the municipality fixed a surveillance vehicle.

“We, as the municipality, do have a surveillance vehicle that we can survey with and see what is happening around each area,” she said.

Lobishe outlined plans for October to install lighting, cameras, and Wi-Fi in the area.

“In October we are planning to fix the big streetlight in the area and install cameras and Wi-Fi. That will help us fight crime, identify and track people who do crime,” she said.

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