Join the dots, people

The article “EC’S R3bn Deficit Road Infrastructure Maintenance Deficit Red-flagged” (DD Jan 26) refers. That the ANC has raised the alarm on the collapse of so many provincial roads is laughable — but so tragic too.

How can the ruling party raise the alarm about the roads when it is they who have created the maintenance backlog over 28 years in power!

In the Eastern Cape, the Anc-led government decreases the allocation for road maintenance each time the annual budget is drawn up.

It employs party cadres in top positions they are unqualified for.

It is the ANC that gives road maintenance tenders to those in good favour and does nothing if the work undertaken adds no value.

It enables legalised theft through the supply chain management system by radically inflating prices for the work so that not only can less maintenance be done because of higher costs but the shoddy quality of the work means the backlog of maintenance is never cleared.

As we approach the 2024 election, how many more times will the ANC try to distance itself from its failures, both provincially and nationally, in order to cling to power?

South Africans need to wake up, shed their apathy and start claiming back their future before it is too late!

— Councillor Sue Bentley, Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, DA Caucus