Cape Town - Cope has promised to invest more than R700 billion in the township economy if it is elected to govern the country, says Arthur Ketile, the party’s Western Cape premier candidate.
Ketile said the township economy, which contributed billions of rand to the gross domestic product, had been neglected. His party would help township businesses become self-sufficient and able to create jobs.
“For too long, the national government and the provincial government have overlooked what our people are capable of in the townships. We need to relook at what this economy can do.
“We can’t boast about 30 years of democracy while the majority of our people are struggling daily. We want to ring-fence R750bn for five years and invest in townships. infrastructure.
“All reports indicate that in the past 30 years, more than R700bn has not been accounted for, and that can be used to intervene in economic growth to bring our people to acceptable standards of living where they can find solutions for themselves,” he said.
Kentile, a former night security guard at False Bay College’s Westlake campus, served in various community structures and positions, and was at the forefront of the effort to convert the informal settlement into formal houses and build schools and other recreational amenities.
For his work, then-Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool awarded him the Premier Award in 2007.
“In those days, there were no cellphones, and people would come in the middle of the night, asking to use the telephone booths for emergencies. People often got stabbed, others were giving birth or their homes would be on fire, so they needed to urgently contact the ambulances, police or fire brigades,” Ketile saids.
In its manifesto, Cope has promised voters that it would root out corruption and end crime in the country.
However, Zwelibanzi Sam Webber, from Nelson Mandela University, said Cope should be focused on dealing with the reality that it was no longer in the minds of many voters.
“The problem with Cope is visibility; it’s no longer seen in our public spaces, it has aged like its leader. All parties that are not in Parliament are making an impact leading to these elections.
“In the Western Cape, Cope faces many rivals who have emerged more popular than Cope, and these parties came after Cope was formed. For it to succeed in these elections, it needs more than a dream,” Webber said.