Note to editors: Please find attached soundbite by Ryan Smith
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes a decision by the Western Cape Provincial Government (WCG) to place the Knysna Municipality under administration. This is a very good step in the right direction for the people of Knysna who continue to suffer service delivery collapse, and deserve a government that puts their needs and the interests of the town first.
It is a welcome move for an impartial administrator to now come in and take over the management of the town’s basic service delivery which has collapsed under the ANC/EFF/PA/PBI/KIM coalition of corruption.
No person in Knysna should have been made to watch the collapse of such a special tourism landmark, including the collapse of waste-water treatment services leading to the pollution of the Knysna lagoon and greater estuary. It has been heartbreaking to see the decay of basic infrastructure and service delivery such as roads and electricity due to corruption and maladministration.
As we have seen across the country, when too many small parties take up seats in Councils, it created a backdoor for the ANC to club together with smaller parties to keep the DA out of government, redirect state resources away from residents and ratepayers, and funnel them towards narrow party-political interests.
In Knysna and in other smaller towns, residents have the power of their vote to choose stable political majority governments, instead of splintered councils.
The DA cares deeply about Knysna and we will continue to work tirelessly to win back a stable political majority in the town to restore service delivery excellence and regain Knysna’s status as the jewel of the Garden Route.