DURBAN - IF the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) takes over the eThekwini Municipality, the lengthy suspension, whereby officials accused of wrongdoing sit at home while drawing a salary, would be a thing of the past.
That is the promise the party’s mayoral candidate Jameel Essop is making ahead of the upcoming local government elections.
Essop, in his bid for the mayoral position, has promised three key changes: he is promising leadership with integrity, improving law enforcement in the city, and dealing decisively with those implicated in allegations of wrongdoing.
He has been a councillor in eThekwini for the past three years. In that period, he said, he has seen first hand what political instability does to good governance and service delivery.
“We will provide good governance with integrity,” said Essop.
He said part of that good governance is ensuring that those accused of wrongdoing are dealt with quickly.
“We have seen instances in this municipality where officials that have been accused of wrongdoing sit at home doing nothing while continuing to draw salaries. We have seen this with municipal managers, they sit at home, and the municipality has to hire another person to do their jobs.
“This is something that needs to end. We will ensure that cases are dealt with quickly,” he said.
He said another target would be to improve security in the city.
Essop said tourist attractions, such as the Durban beachfront, were affected by crime.
“We need to beef up the metro police. We also need an integrated approach between members of the metro police and the SAPS when it comes to law enforcement where these two units work much closer together to deliver optimum security levels for the Durban residents.”
He said the ACDP is of the view that the full potential of the city has not been fully realised.
“We are held back by the old political story of partisanship and cadre deployment. Corruption, mismanagement of funds and poor public service delivery, continue to impede the growth and development of eThekwini,” he said.
On economic opportunities, Essop said the ACDP would ensure that tenders and job opportunities will be managed with transparency with due processes followed.
“Jobs and tenders for the well-connected is a norm of the past, under our leadership and mayoral candidate. Competency, efficiency and transparency will be the culture of eThekwini Municipality,” he said.
THE MERCURY