Whites behind Tshwane woes 'a fact'

2010-03-12 22:03

Pretoria - Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane's statement that Tshwane's financial problems are largely a result of defaults by white ratepayers was based on fact, spokesperson Dumisani Zulu said on Friday.

Zulu said the premier's knowledge was based on a report done by the municipality.

Reacting to Mokonyane's Thursday comments, the Democratic Alliance said: "She is being a divisive factor in our province and she is undermining nation building and promoting racism through her comments, so she must prove it.

"The race card is always shown when the ANC does not have answers to a problem. The easy way out is just to blame the 'whites' and avert attention from the real problems."

Ratepayers predominantly white

Zulu said however, that it was "unfortunate" that ratepayers were predominantly white.

He said Mokonyane's statement was reflective of (Co-operative Governance) Minister Sicelo Shiceka's statement that Tshwane was "vulnerable".

Mokonyane reportedly told a Pretoria Press Club that "the City of Tshwane does not deserve to be what it is today because it has a turnaround strategy but has not been able to implement it".

According to Mokonyane, a large number of predominantly white ratepayers' associations in the Tshwane metro were not paying for services.

Money going into trust accounts

They were rather putting their money into trust accounts and this, she said, was rendering the municipality dysfunctional.

She said some of them were even deliberately withholding payments. She urged residents to work closely with government.

The DA challenged the premier to prove her statements, saying it believed Mokonyane was being "economical with the truth" by blaming one population group for what is essentially the ANC's failure to properly manage the Tshwane Council.
 

- SAPA