Cape Town - The ANC, as the official opposition in the City of Cape Town, has slammed the DA -led municipality as well as the provincial government for neglecting housing, sports and educational facilities in Uitsig because Tony Ehrenreich lives there.
Ehrenreich, who is the leader of the ANC in the city, called a media briefing on the Uitsig sportsfield on Wednesday after weeks of trying to get responses from mayor Patricia de Lille and Premier Helen Zille about the situation in Uitsig.
“The city and provincial governments are malicious in their conduct to hold onto working people’s votes but denying them basic amenities,” he said.
Ehrenreich said he had pointed out to the city that the “RDP” houses lacked proper ventilation and that this needed to be improved when the units were upgraded. But, he said the city ignored his concerns and the residents had been suffering from TB and other ailments because of the poor ventilation.
Benedicta Van Minnen, mayoral committee member for Human Settlements, said houses were recently upgraded as part of the city’s community residential units upgrade programme. She said the ceilings were given insulation, doors and windows were made fully functional and kitchen sink units were installed in each house. Cement floors have also now been tiled.
Siyabulela Mamkeli, mayoral committee member for Health, said Uitsig had for years been the focus of TB studies, following a finding in 2002 that it has one of the highest TB rates in the world.
“City Health has worked very closely with various partners to turn the tide, by introducing a number of interventions to counter the levels of tuberculosis in these communities and to reduce the disease burden and infection rates.”
In a letter to De Lille, Ehrenreich appealed for her intervention to improve the sports grounds. He said the facility manager appointed by the subcouncil did not live on the property and that vandalism was an ongoing problem.
But Belinda Walker, mayoral committee member for Community Services and Special Projects, said the subcouncil plays a monitoring role but does not appoint staff. This is done by line management in terms of their delegated authority.”
She said the sports ground had been repeatedly vandalised, even when there was security staff on the site. She said the facility would soon get a 3m-high “vandal-proof and rugged fencing structure” that would be difficult to remove. The clubhouse, ablution block and caretaker’s cottage would also be fenced in.
Meanwhile, Ehrenreich said the Western Cape Education Department refused to respond to calls from pupils and the community for better conditions at Uitsig High School. He said the school building had been built with asbestos, which put the health of the children at risk. In an open letter to the premier, Ehrenreich said the school was also battling staff shortages after several teachers and the principal left.
But Jessica Shelver, spokeswoman for Debbie Schäfer, MEC for Education, said vacant posts had been filled. She said that the roof structure was asbestos, and that damages to the roof were repaired by the Department of Public Works.
Cape Argus