It is indeed a shocking state of affairs when residents have to take the municipality to court in order to receive basic services. The residents of Harry Gwala informal settlement have been around since 1989 without basic services, and the Ekurhuleni Metro is not interested in their plight. Asthma is prevalent in the community and 50% of the children under the age of five die of diarrhoea-related illnesses.
Eight informal settlements were surveyed recently and Dr Mary Galvin from The Water Dialogues is distressed about the situation and stresses that a water crisis is imminent. The organisation is taking the matter to the Constitutional Court with the backing of the Landless People's Movement.
Vusumuzi is another informal settlement of 7 500 residents who are experiencing the same problem. Houses by 2005 had been promised, but still no progress. Infrastructure is nonexistent and people live in squalor. We, as the DA, have in our possession 3 000 signatures to back this.
Thokoza follows the same trend. We visited the site and have numerous photographs to prove this. This is due to a lack of credit control. Ekurhuleni is fast depleting its R1,9 billion surplus as of 1 July 2009 and it's down to the last R560 million, which will be exhausted by the end of the month. Furthermore, Ekurhuleni is applying for a loan of R850 million, but how are they going to service this loan?
It is clear that the ANC-controlled Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Council is incapable of managing their finances. Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]