The Democratic Alliance on Thursday accused the NNP/ANC alliance of trying to buy the votes of ”70 000 poor people” in Cape Town by reducing the rental debt for council tenants.
Nevertheless, the DA still welcomed the relief being granted on rental arrears and supported any financially sustainable measure that reduced the debt burden on struggling families, DA spokesperson Robin Carlisle said.
On Wednesday, the Cape Town City Council announced almost 37 500 families of mostly Cape Flats areas would benefit from a once-off opportunity to substantially reduce their rental debt with council and catch up with payments sooner.
From Thursday, the city would start a special process to reduce arrears by about R150-million to the previously disadvantaged. ”This will result in people living free from debt fears,” it said in a statement.
To be eligible for a discount on debt, people who stayed in council houses from July 1997 to June 2002 should go to their housing office as soon as possible to make the required arrangements.
For every rand they paid, council would contribute a rand to reduce their debt.
If all the debtors took up the offer, the council would recover more than R60-million in arrears. The money would be spent on, among others, upgrading or better maintenance of council houses and flats.
Separate arrangements had to be made to pay all debt beyond July 1, 2002.
In addition, the city would finance the sale of rental houses if occupants wished to become owners, despite their rental arrears, the statement said.
On Thursday, Carlisle said it was now clear the ANC and NNP — unlike the rest of SA — were aware of the election date at the time of the council’s decision on the matter in December.
The timing of the announcement — two weeks before election day –constituted one of the most cynical political acts in recent years, he said.
”In effect, the ANC/NNP are trying to buy the votes of 70,000 poor people.
”The DA knows that this will not happen. We encourage all those affected to make use of the opportunity and then to vote their choice on election day.
”This is but one of many acts by an ANC/NNP coalition desperate to hang on to power. The common theme is a reckless and improper use of state resources to promote a faltering campaign.
”The poor know very well that they have become poorer in the last 10 years, and they know even better that the ANC government is the main cause of their poverty,” Carlisle said. – Sapa