The DA in the Eastern Cape is in full support of the party’s motion requesting that the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality declares an intergovernmental dispute with the department of employment and labour regarding the Metro’s unfair employment equity policy.
Currently, the policy reflects the demographics of the province and this had led to thousands of people missing out on employment opportunities in the municipality.
Local demographics in Nelson Mandela Bay differ vastly from provincial demographics and the Metro’s current policy is unfair and extremely prejudicial to especially Coloured communities living in the Northern Areas of the city.
The motion tabled yesterday by the MMC for Corporate Services, DA Cllr Annette Lovemore, at a portfolio committee meeting seeks to redress this unfair practice and will now be tabled in council.
The motion was prepared months ago and signed by MMC Lovemore and seconded by the MMC for Safety and Security, Cllr Lawrence Troon. They were, however, requested not to table the motion and to allow another party to do so – a request they acceded to.
This party has no doubt not tabled the motion as they know it will not be supported by the ANC/EFF Coalition of Doom and would have a negative impact on a possible future coalition with the ANC and EFF.
The ANC has no interest in fairness and has time and again, whilst in government, shown that it does not have any regard for the people of the Northern Areas.
The DA has been fighting for the implementation of a fair policy for many years and asks residents to keep an eye out to see which parties are not in favour of fairness and joins the ANC and EFF when they vote against this motion in council.
We will also be launching a petition in favour of the motion, which will be submitted to the department of employment and labour.
The DA is committed to fairness for all the residents of Nelson Mandela Bay and will support the current coalition government, under the leadership of NMB mayor Retief Odendaal, in its efforts to fight for a fair employment equity policy in the Metro.