THE DA has claimed victory in the Kouga Local Municipality, Eastern Cape, with a full majority by winning 16 of the 29 seats in the council.
News24 recently ranked Kouga as one of the best-run municipality in the Eastern Cape, and one of the top performers in the country.
“Our message to the residents of Kouga is that we will keep striving to live up to their expectations. We will keep doing our best to serve them with dedication, integrity and humility. We will keep getting things done for them,” said Steenhuisen.
“The DA is excited and grateful to have this incredible opportunity to build on the foundation of good governance that we have laid over the past five years. We recognize that there is still so much to be done in Kouga. Our commitment now is to build on this progress so that we can take Kouga from good to great.”
Steenhuisen said Kouga is a South African success story at a time when the people of the Eastern Cape needed reason to hope, and proof that with good government, progress can be made.
He said when the DA took over Kouga in 2016 after the local government elections the municipality was in a state of decline.
“We stabilized Kouga’s finances and set about improving the capacity of the council to deliver to people. Our approach has been to build trust and partnerships with the community, placing people at the centre of everything we do. Today’s results show it is a winning formula,” said Steenhuisen.
In 2016, Kouga was heavily indebted. But today, says Steenhuisen, Kouga’s finances are currently in a healthy state.
“Today, this debt has been paid off yet cash on hand is almost double what it was back then,” said Steenhuisen.
“The ANC-run council had neither built nor facilitated the building of a single house in Kouga since 2007. Since 2016, the DA-run council has completed 611 houses and another 3025 are in the pipeline while a further 2790 are being held up by land and infrastructure issues. This is against a backlog of about 15 000 houses needed, meaning that real progress is being made.”
- Inside Metros