Soccer team more important than building toilets

TO our esteemed metro staff,

His name was Lester Wagner ("Baby dies in toilet bucket tragedy", May 19).

I say was, because while "Rome" is burning (or in this case Nelson Mandela Bay), all that the metro is interested in is securing a soccer team to play in the Bay.

Since when was securing a soccer team part of the metro's (ANC's) mandate? One thing I do know is its mandate is that of eradicating bucket toilets.

This quite clearly has not been done as (from media sources) the metro has not even been able to spend R9-million on the eradication of bucket toilets in the Bay in the past financial year. However, the bosses down at City Hall think "screw the people, let us go and watch soccer instead".

How sad, and because of this apathetic and self-indulgent attitude, a baby has died. This child had a twin who will now grow up without him.

Let me please remind the council that its mandate is that of service delivery. You are failing in your service delivery, from creating employment to skills development, infrastructure development and the list goes on.

The metro is failing hopelessly at that. You guys cannot even build an integrated transport system that works!

Perhaps I and many others should do what the 100000+ per annum rural Xhosa are doing and rather move to Cape Town. Now they know what they are doing there, with job creation, setting up six "red door" SMME development offices primarily in townships, finalising their transport system on schedule, spending 85% of their budget for bucket toilet eradication and the like.

That while dealing with an influx of more than 100000 people every year.

The "red door" SMME and skills development programme now has 16 offices throughout the Western Cape and has assisted (until 2012) nearly 10500 SMMEs, who have employed close on 120000 people. Now that is job creation and service delivery that we should be learning from and improving on.

If I were a parent of the child who died, I would sue the mayor, metro and the ANC for criminal negligence.

To the metro bosses, get over your petty arguments and start ruling. People no longer want T-shirts and food parcels, they want homes, toilets, water, electricity, jobs and self-respect, not soccer teams.

Till you realise that, more babies and children will die and it will be on your heads.

Ed Gutsche, Port Elizabeth