Take up DA offer to work together, Chippa Ngcolomba

THIS is an open letter addressed to Chippa Ngcolomba, de facto mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay.

Your apparent unwillingness to meet me in my capacity as leader of the opposition in the metro to discuss pertinent matters of mutual interest regarding the administration of Nelson Mandela Bay necessitates me to now address you on this platform.

I am most concerned by the rumours currently circulating from within your own caucus of the resignation of current mayor "Oom" Ben Fihla.

Accepting the position as mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay certainly seems to be a risky business these days as this position has been the political kiss of death for Nondumiso Mphazi, Zanoxolo Wayile and by the looks of it now possibly also Fihla. One could be forgiven for believing the anecdote that all that is missing from the mayor's office is a revolving door.

As the leader of the official opposition in the Bay I have to point out that the constant reshuffling of senior political office bearers within this organisation continues to exacerbate the level of instability within the administration. Against this backdrop the DA urges this redeployment, if undertaken, be speedily effected and with the hope that it will not happen with the usual high casualty rate.

While the ruling party is seemingly (once again) reshuffling the political leadership within the NMB council, the city administration has unfortunately come to a grinding halt. The indictment on the leadership of this administration in the under-spending of our capital budget at a mere 39.6% up to March 31 highlights the extent of the political paralysis gripping our city.

One should however not be surprised, given the fact that our supply-chain unit remains similarly dysfunctional and unable even to ensure that bid committees meet regularly. With only half of the scheduled bid committees actually meeting, we are unable to award tenders critical to ensuring continued service delivery to the people of Nelson Mandela Bay.

I was also deeply disturbed to learn that we are on the brink of writing off in excess of R22-million of our housing revolving fund. This is probably due to the fact that many of the RDP houses we have built to date do not conform to national guidelines.

This too will probably have disastrous consequences for future housing delivery in NMB and is something we can ill afford.

While we are still in the budgeting process, I once again remind you that this process should be consultative. The DA has on numerous occasions approached the office of the mayor to allow us the opportunity to engage with the governing party to discuss our proposals with regard to improving operational efficiencies within the NMB.

The DA remains convinced that enough money can be saved on non-core spending and wasteful expenditure to enable us speedily to eradicate the inhumane bucket system as well as providing the necessary funding to implement a weekly garbage collection service to all households within the Bay.

Sadly, despite your personal public invitation to "engage with us on the budget" our calls and request for such a meeting remain unanswered.

Elections are now over and the DA trusts we can all focus on bringing much needed stability to NMB. Support for the ANC in the region has now slipped to less than 50%, a clear indication that the governing party no longer enjoys even the slimmest majority and speaks for less than half the voters in this city.

I urge you to consider the indisputable fact that opposition parties in NMB now have a strong and clear mandate from the people that change is needed in this metro.

The DA will be at the forefront of this movement for change as we work towards bringing stability and prosperity to this metro. Our door has always been open. Is yours?

We have taken you up on your offer to work with you. To continue to disregard us would be a mistake.

Retief Odendaal, leader of the opposition, NMB