KHUSTA JACK | Helping Ramaphosa to understand Nelson Mandela Bay’s plight

In the midst of the worsening service delivery crisis in the metro I have, on behalf of Abantu Integrity Movement (AIM), forwarded communication to Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for the presidency. Magwenya’s primary responsibility in government is to communicate the president’s official position on a whole range of issues that are of interest to the public. On any given topic, the president obviously receives detailed briefings from a whole number of internal sources.

It, as we understand it, is Magwenya’s job to refine the final public messaging to the media in a manner that will enable the president to come across as well-informed. On his recent visit to Nelson Mandela Bay, President Cyril Ramaphosa caused a fair amount of public consternation with remarks he made to the media about the state of the metro. Among other overly complimentary remarks, he said in front of television cameras that councillor Babalwa Lobishe was “doing very well” as mayor.

It hurts the president’s credibility when he speaks in public in a manner that suggests that he is either not well-informed about the situation on the ground or is deliberately being economical with the truth for political expediency. It is not the lived experience of the residents and business community of Nelson Mandela Bay that Lobishe is doing a good job. This is a mayor who failed to respond to six letters from the portfolio committee on co-operative governance and traditional affairs, inviting her to parliament to account for severe governance failures and mismanagement of public funds in the municipality.