Hon Deputy Speaker, Jozini seems to be one of those municipalities that government has forgotten about and where it has left those in charge to do as they wish. How else can one explain the brazen corruption that permeates every part of the municipality, while no effort is being made by provincial and national government to hold anyone accountable?
Service delivery in Jozini has been nonexistent since 2011, with communities stating that they have not had any running water, electricity, proper housing or roads.
What is shocking is that the municipal buildings themselves are falling apart, so much so that the toilets are said to be unusable and represent a dangerous health risk.
R9 million that was supposed to be used to provide electricity for the people of Ingwavuma never materialised. R92 million was used by municipal leaders for their own purposes instead of for the people of Jozini. The mayor gives bursaries to comrades and friends instead of those who need them, and even his wife is said to have used public funds to the tune of R10 million in a joint business venture. Operation Sukuma Sakhe was supposed to drive housing development in Jozini; yet, not one house has been built. Health workers, who do not even live in Jozini, are collecting monthly salaries without having to show up for work.
For how long must the people of Jozini live like this, and for how long will this situation be condoned by the provincial government? Are the people of Jozini so irrelevant that their government is not willing to help them or take the necessary steps to hold people accountable?
It is now a fact of history that the last time the people of Jozini had a real government was when the IFP was in charge. It is since 2011, when the bogus coalition came in, that people have been doomed.
