/ MEDIA STATEMENT / The content on this page is not written by Polity.org.za, but is supplied by third parties. This content does not constitute news reporting by Polity.org.za.

While most Nelson Mandela Bay residents still live in abject poverty and struggle to put food on the table, tens of thousands of indigent households are no longer receiving assistance from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.

Nothing highlights the ineptness of the ANC-led administration more than its inability to deliver services to the poor. In the 2017/18 financial year, 106 614 indigent households received free basic services through the Metro’s Assistance to the Poor (ATTP) programme. Last year in the 2020/21 financial year, that number was reduced to 54 630 households.

Government is legally obligated to provide basic services at no charge to registered indigent people within respective municipal boundaries. The cost for these basic services, which include water, electricity, sanitation and waste removal, is offset by the equitable share funding provided by National Government to municipalities.

I will write to the City Manager to request a report on why the Metro has lost more than 50 000 households from its indigent programme. I will also request that this report include recommendations on how to fast-track the verification processes of ATTP applicants and how to deal with any backlog that may exist in approving ATTP applicants due to existing council processes.

The DA will be reworking the Metro’s indigent policy and propose comprehensive changes so that no indigent families are left behind. We will also launch an outreach programme to assist residents with ATTP applications.

While this unresponsive ANC government seems dead set on making the poor poorer, the DA will continue to hold the Municipality to account so that the most vulnerable amongst us are not deprived of basic services.

Issued by Cllr Retief Odendaal - DA NMB Mayoral Candidate