MEC makes us hollow promises

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ON Thursday last week I attended The Herald/NMMU Community Dialogue at the Feather Market Centre. I would like Local Government MEC Mlibo Mlibo Qoboshiyane to answer two questions:

• First question: Mr Qoboshiyane, you said in your opening statement that approximately 70% of the NMB Metro employees were "under-qualified” and you would be working to replace these "under-qualified” with qualified employees. That is a wonderful statement and most praiseworthy, but all you are doing is making nice noises so people will think you are really going to do something about the situation and once again you are trying to pull the wool over the ratepayers’ eyes.

The question that begs to be answered is: how do you intend to do that? How do replace 70% of your municipal employees?

With the current labour laws you can’t just go to a person and say: "You are under-qualified and so we would like to replace you!” There is a process that has to be followed and if not followed correctly, all you will be landed with are a series of court actions that will once again cost the NMB Metro very heavy legal costs and no doubt the judgment will go against the metro.

• Second question: Mr Qoboshiyane, when, if ever, are the municipal officers who are corrupt, misuse their positions, fraudulently procure contracts and have business commitments that are in conflict with their positions as municipal officers be made to answer for their corrupt ways? When, if ever, are the municipal officers going to be held accountable for poor performance and mismanagement?

There is absolutely no level of accountability in the NMB Metro. There is mismanagement at every turn, and yet no one has to answer for their poor performance and corrupt ways.

There is no accountability in the metro police officers, health department...the list is endless.

Mr Qoboshiyane, it is said you can fool some of the people some of the time, you can fool some of the people all of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time. You have fooled a lot of the ANC members some of the time and yet they have wised up and left the ANC camp.

You will continue to fool many of your ANC cadres all of the time. However, you have not fooled me and there are thousands of people like me who you will never fool and those who have a mind of their own and do not accept the hollow statements that you make.

You are no better than Jacob Zuma, who took the people in by promising everything that they asked as he campaigned for his role as the president of South Africa and then did not deliver on any of his promises.

Unfortunately, Mr Qoboshiyane, all of the opening statement that you made was, once again, full of hollow promises that you and the ANC officials have no way of implementing and will find impossible to deliver.