Mbeki has his head in the sand

No service delivery crisis: Mbeki

There is no service delivery crisis in South Africa, president Thabo Mbeki said on Thursday.

Responding to a question on service delivery protests in the National Assembly, he acknowledged the provision of basic services to all was far from complete.

"The fact that 15 percent of our households do not have access to potable water, and 30 percent do not have access to sanitation, and 26 percent do not have access to electricity, means that we have some way to go before we attain our objectives," he told MPs.

Government continued to work hard further to improve service delivery.

'for anyone to posit a notion of a crisis of service delivery in the country would be incorrect'

"The work of providing services to all citizens is... continuing apace, and therefore for anyone to posit a notion of a crisis of service delivery in the country would be incorrect," he said.

Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Sandra Botha disagreed with his assessment.

"Despite your assurances, there were 5,000 service delivery protests in the last year - the highest in the world. To me that sounds like a crisis."

She said the DA was convinced the African National Congress policy of "cadre deployment" to managerial positions in preference to appointment on the basis of competency was at the heart of the problem. - Sapa