DURBAN - THE DA has called on the residents of KwaZulu-Natal to come together as they recover and rebuild after the devastating looting and destruction of property last month.
The party launched a programme that aims to rebuild communities that were shattered by the violence and looting a few weeks ago.
Party leader John Steenhuisen was in the province on Tuesday, and launched the campaign in Phoenix, Durban. During his visit, he called for the community to come together in the clean-up campaigns and for an end to the ugly scenes of racism that have been on display since the unrest.
“We need to pick up the pieces in these damaged communities and bring people together around the task of putting broken buildings, businesses and lives back together again.
“What this province certainly does not need, and cannot afford, is the kind of crass racial baiting that we have seeing since the unrest. Nobody wins when hatred and blame are whipped up,” he said.
He said the DA leadership and its councillors had been at the forefront of this effort to safeguard threatened communities and to clean up the mess.
“Through our project to unite, rebuild and protect our communities, we will take advantage of this momentum by extending an invitation to all role players and influential voices to join us in these efforts.
“What we have seen in affected communities is that the desire to build is far greater than the desire to destroy. But in order to be effective, the builders need to find each other and become organised,” he said.
He said DA councillors throughout the province would be calling meetings with stakeholders in their wards to discuss all issues relating to service delivery and safety in an effort to better protect these communities.
These meetings would bring together traditional leaders, religious leaders, neighbourhood watches, ratepayers’ associations, community policing forums and any other significant voices of leadership in these communities.
“On the agenda will be service delivery steps that must be taken to improve safety, as well as discussions around ways to strengthen social cohesion and stamp out the poisonous narrative of racial scapegoating,” he said.
THE MERCURY