Guateng Premier Speaks on What's Behind Financial Woes in South Africa

Guateng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane in the Republic of South Africa.
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Whites cause Tshwane’s financial woes: Mokonyane

Mar 12, 2010 6:16 PM
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Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane’s statement that Tshwane’s financial problems are largely a result of defaults by white ratepayers was based on fact, spokesman Dumisani Zulu said.
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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,” the DA said in a statement on Friday.

Zulu said however, that it was “unfortunate” that rate payers were predominantly white. He said Mokonyane’s statement was reflective of [Cooperative 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 rate payers’ associations in the Tshwane metro were not paying for services.

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 MEC 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.