Budget: Cape Town’s Deadly Divide

GOOD Statement by Axolile Notywala, GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor – Speech was delivered during today’s City of Cape Town Council meeting, Budget Vote:

Speaker, I RISE today, on behalf of the GOOD Party, to dispel the DA’s pro-poor myth, to call out the DA lies and to highlight the ongoing denialism of the DA’s deadly failures in Cape Town.

Speaker, Mayor, and DA Councillors, your failures, your lies and denialism in this budget are killing Black and Coloured children in Cape Town. Just yesterday, a child almost drowned while walking from school in a flooded street because the DA-led City of Cape Town failed to maintain drainage systems. This was in Parkwood, not in Clifton.

In September 2023, it was 11-year-old Lihle Dyamdeki, his 7-year-old brother Lusindo Dyamdeki, 12-year-old Storm Scholtz, and 9-year-old Awam Simanga who tragically died when they were electrocuted because the DA-led City of Cape Town failed to provide electricity in that community. This was in Klipfontein Mission in Philippi, not in Sea Point.

In August 2021, it was two-year-old Imthande Swartbooi who tragically fell and died in an uncovered manhole because the DA-led City of Cape Town failed to cover it when it was reported. This was in Khayelitsha, not in Camps Bay.

In June 2021, it was 10-year-old Kayden Marco who tragically died after a metal wheel at a park fell on him because the DA-led City of Cape Town failed to fix it. This was in Delft, not in Bishops Court.

In February 2021, it was 11-year-old Axolile Mabangula, 12-year-old Nqabayethu Mlaza, 13-year-old Azola Quweni, and 13-year-old Iva Kalikopu, who tragically died when a sinkhole they were playing in collapsed onto them because the DA-led City of Cape Town failed to provide recreational facilities in their community. This was in Nyanga, not in Gardens.

In November 2017, it was 6-year-old Lindani Madolo and 5-year-old Luniko Madolo who died after being electrocuted by stray wires from a street light because the DA led City of Cape Town failed to fix it. This was in Philippi East, not in Constantia.

In March 2016, it was 19-year-old Sinoxolo Mafevuka who was brutally raped and killed in a communal toilet 200 meters away from her home because the DA-led City of Cape Town failed to provide toilets in that community. This was in Khayelitsha, not in Bantry Bay.

There are many more names that YOUR failures have killed, but I only have three minutes. These are children. They might not be your children. But they are ours. The City of Cape Town has failed them, their families and their communities. Your denialism is killing our children.

Some of us are not surprised though, DA members of parliament visit Israel and deny Apartheid and the genocide in Gaza as we continue to witness the daily killing of children there.

When you continue your PR stunts and governance, calling Cape Town the best-run City in South Africa, you are in clear denial of your deadly failures in Cape Town, as we witness children dying in Cape Town.

If the DA, in its 19 years of governing Cape Town, was investing in infrastructure and maintenance for all residents of Cape Town, on an equitable basis, these children would be alive today.

GOOD Healthcare Access: GOOD supports initiatives to improve access to healthcare in rural areas.

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