CAPE TOWN — In the presence of President Thabo Mbeki, Cape Town Mayor Helen Zille took a number of swipes at the African National Congress-led provincial and central governments yesterday, on issues such as housing and Mbeki’s alleged use of imbizos as party political platforms.
In a hard-hitting speech at the provincial presidential imbizo, Zille said she had expected questions from Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and had asked her officials to prepare for this.
She also threw a barb at housing MEC Richard Dyantyi, whom she said had made an offer to help the city with forming ward committees, instead of ward forums, by “thankfully” declining his offer.
However, Mbeki downplayed Zille’s remarks, saying he was not surprised by them and had been aware of the “tensions” on various issues. He gave as an example the intervention of Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi, who mediated when the province wanted to place the council under administration.
Apart from taking a swipe at the politicisation of imbizos, Zille also indicated that she expected Sisulu to question details of the city’s housing efforts, saying she had asked her officials to be prepared to answer these questions.
Following formal presentations by premier Ebrahim Rasool, Zille and the mayors of two other district municipalities, the discussion part of the meeting was closed to the media.
Mbeki said at an impromptu press briefing afterwards he was “not unfamiliar” with the tensions.
He said the good thing about the debate was that “once you zero in on the substance of the issue being raised you find that you can deal with (the substance) objectively without any political colouring to it”. Mbeki said that on the issue of housing, there was a misalignment between funds provided for grants and funds for infrastructure development.
“Once (you) discuss matters in dispute, (you) find they’re not party political. Whoever raises it, whether political parties or not, it is an objective problem. I don’t have a sense that in substance of issues which might be in dispute, they are in dispute because people belong to different political parties,” he said.
Mbeki said one of the most important issues raised during the imbizo was the decision by Rasool and his province that there was a need to “move aggressively on matter of drug abuse”.
He said there was a particular need for a realignment of national, provincial and local government to intervene “quite vigorously” on this. He said some issues that arose had a broader application than just in the Cape. - Business Day - News Worth Knowing
In a hard-hitting speech at the provincial presidential imbizo, Zille said she had expected questions from Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and had asked her officials to prepare for this.
She also threw a barb at housing MEC Richard Dyantyi, whom she said had made an offer to help the city with forming ward committees, instead of ward forums, by “thankfully” declining his offer.
However, Mbeki downplayed Zille’s remarks, saying he was not surprised by them and had been aware of the “tensions” on various issues. He gave as an example the intervention of Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi, who mediated when the province wanted to place the council under administration.
Apart from taking a swipe at the politicisation of imbizos, Zille also indicated that she expected Sisulu to question details of the city’s housing efforts, saying she had asked her officials to be prepared to answer these questions.
Following formal presentations by premier Ebrahim Rasool, Zille and the mayors of two other district municipalities, the discussion part of the meeting was closed to the media.
Mbeki said at an impromptu press briefing afterwards he was “not unfamiliar” with the tensions.
He said the good thing about the debate was that “once you zero in on the substance of the issue being raised you find that you can deal with (the substance) objectively without any political colouring to it”. Mbeki said that on the issue of housing, there was a misalignment between funds provided for grants and funds for infrastructure development.
“Once (you) discuss matters in dispute, (you) find they’re not party political. Whoever raises it, whether political parties or not, it is an objective problem. I don’t have a sense that in substance of issues which might be in dispute, they are in dispute because people belong to different political parties,” he said.
Mbeki said one of the most important issues raised during the imbizo was the decision by Rasool and his province that there was a need to “move aggressively on matter of drug abuse”.
He said there was a particular need for a realignment of national, provincial and local government to intervene “quite vigorously” on this. He said some issues that arose had a broader application than just in the Cape. - Business Day - News Worth Knowing
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