AfriForum today submitted numerous protest letters of residents across the country against the president’s request – that municipalities countrywide must transport 18 000 people to the presidential inauguration in Pretoria on 25 May 2019 – at the National Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs in Pretoria. The civil rights organisation also sent a protest letter to the presidency regarding this issue.
Municipalities are already struggling to make the grade and cannot even provide basic services to residents due to a lack of funds. Tax payers are burdened with irregular or no water supply, the non-removal of waste and raw sewage running off in streets due to the failure of municipalities to perform their constitutional obligation.
“Despite municipalities’ constitutional duty to provide basic services to citizens, there is a lack of service delivery in some rural towns and even in cities. In addition, South Africa’s current economical state does not justify the enormous cost associated with this presidential inauguration and the economy can benefit from municipalities that avoid unnecessary expenses. In light hereof, AfriForum feels that the Presidency’s request is unfounded – that is why we are saying ‘stop the bus’ with the wasteful expenditure of municipal funds,” says Lambert de Klerk, AfriForum’s Coordinator for Greater Pretoria.