The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape wishes to state clearly that it does not support the call by Nelson Mandela Bay’s self-styled “interim” Mayor, Tshonono Buyeye, to intensify lockdown regulations in the Metro.
“Interim” Mayor Buyeye’s call for a move back to Level 4 lockdown, seems to be more about preventing council from sitting to elect a permanent Executive Mayor in the Metro, than about addressing the Covid-19 pandemic.
He is hell-bent on holding on to power and seems willing to throw the economy of the Metro under the bus to do so. Cllr Buyeye’s call for stricter regulations is less about the well-being of residents and more about his own position.
The DA is extremely concerned about the rapid increase in Covid-19 cases in the City, and we believe that urgent measures must be put in place to assist our struggling hospitals and clinics.
However, this cannot be done at the detriment of the Nelson Mandela Bay economy and its residents.
The City has the highest unemployment rate of all the Metros in South Africa and the Covid-19 lockdown regulations have already decimated the economy.
To intensify regulations now will just further exacerbate the situation, causing more businesses to go under and resulting in further job losses that we cannot afford.
The DA will not allow this to happen and is willing to take the legal route to prevent Cllr Buyeye and the ANC-led coalition of corruption from collapsing the City’s economy in a desperate attempt to hold on to power.