Note to Editors: Please find the attached soundbite in English and Afrikaans by Cllr Hans Jurie Moolman.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in JB Marks Local Municipality objects to the use of municipal letterhead and communication resources to launch political attacks against opposition parties.
JB Marks Local Municipality has released several statements with political undertones and attacks on some opposition Councillors who spoke out against the recent politically motivated and illegal land invasions.
Municipal officials are bound by a Code of Conduct which requires them to be impartial on political issues. The use of municipal communication resources goes against this code of conduct.
The released statements are misleading and not factual, for years the DA has spoken out against illegal land invasions which left occupants without basic services.
Residents in areas such as Marikana next to Promosa and several other areas, known as Baipei, have spent at least the past 10-years without basic services such as water, sanitation and waste removal.
In Marikana, there are over 2000 people who use a septic tank for sanitation purposes. The same community is forced to share only 12 communal taps and have no street lights.
There are also pending reports from the South African Human Rights Commission against the municipality for allowing residents to live in appalling conditions which violate their human dignity.
Instead of attacking political parties the self-appointed spokesperson of the JB Marks Municipality should align his utterances with the evidence that was presented for and on behalf of the municipality under oath in the North West High Court. It was on the basis of this testimony under oath that a court interdict, to stop the Mooibank land invasion, was obtained and in terms of which an eviction order will be applied for on 11 February.
All municipal officials who are paid by the state through public funds must serve the whole community of JB Marks Local Municipality and refrain from abusing their positions as a platform for the promotion of the ideology of certain political parties.
Where we govern, the DA provides access to state-subsidised housing, in DA run municipalities it includes access to basic services and promotes the human dignity of the beneficiaries thereof. We will continue to ensure that the residents of JB Marks who are on the secret housing waiting list are afforded the same dignity.