Zille: ANC in for Joburg power cut

2011-05-13 13:37

Johannesburg - Control over the City of Johannesburg will go "down to the wire" in local government elections next Wednesday, DA leader Helen Zille says.

"The good news is that there is a power-cut scheduled for Johannesburg next Wednesday," she quipped in a speech prepared for delivery at Kya Sands informal settlement, north of Johannesburg, on Friday.

"But this time it's not load shedding, it's vote-shedding. The DA is on track to cut the ANC's power. But it is going to go down to the wire."

She paid tribute to the area's ward councillor John Mendlesohn, saying he took the City of Johannesburg to the SA Human Rights Commission to secure more taps, better sanitation, mast lighting and daily refuse removal for the settlement, which is surrounded by a mixture of industry and plots.

Mendlesohn had also contacted Human Settlements Minister Tokyo Sexwale to resolve what she said was the city's non-allocation of money for bulk infrastructure in its budget.

This was the reason that a promised 12 000 new houses had not been built on a stand in nearby Nietgedacht. She said there was a limit to what they could do as the opposition, and urged people to go and vote next Wednesday.

Zille is currently the premier of the Western Cape and leader of the opposition in Parliament.
 

- SAPA