Johannesburg - You ought to thank the ANC for that leaking roof and shoddily built RDP house you live in.
This is the message Deputy Minister in the Presidency Buti Manamela seemed to be making when he addressed party supporters in Nelson Mandela Bay on Tuesday.
Manamela’s public meeting with the residents of Kamvelihle in Motherwell, Port Elizabeth’s biggest township, was held a few hours after DA leader Mmusi Maimane addressed supporters in Walmer township, where the DA had refurbished the leaking roof of ANC member Lekelwa Jack’s house.
Read: You owe us nothing, Maimane tells PE’s poor
The domestic worker and mother of two said she had lodged complaints about the leaking roof to her ward councillors over the years, but nothing was done.
Jack said she would vote DA during the municipal elections because it was the only party that delivered.
Manamela told Independent Media that they did not take the people’s support of the ANC for granted.
During his campaign in the metro, people had approached him, saying the challenges they encountered “are as a result of the delivery the ANC has made”.
“If the ANC didn’t build these houses, these houses wouldn’t be leaking. And it is the ANC that can change all of those challenges.”
He said the ruling party would continue listening to the people’s service delivery challenges and ponder ways of realising the better-life-for-all mantra.
The deputy minister acknowledged that South Africa was faced with “bigger problems” of unemployment and access to basic services but people “are quite happy with the progress made”.
Young people at the meeting spoke about challenges in getting identity documents, unemployment, housing, drugs and a lack of sporting facilities.
Manamela said they would address all the complaints with relevant government structures including the Department of Social Development and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA).
Manamela said he was impressed that a young person had lifted the lid on the scourge of drugs. “We will work with the NYDA about the implications of drug abuse. We will also work with Social Development to help drug addicts. If we say don’t do drugs, there must be some alternatives for young people,” he said.
The ANC was sure of victory in the metro, said Manamela, adding market research company Ipsos would be proved wrong.
The company’s election polls suggest that the DA has a real chance of winning the Eastern Cape’s richest metro.
“They will continue to be disproved. In 2014, they said the ANC at national level will dramatically reduce below the 55 percent line.
“That was the final poll and the electorate came out and proved them wrong. They are going to be proved yet again, that the polls are nothing but a figment of their imagination,” the deputy minister said.
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The Star