The ANC-led government and its municipalities need to act urgently to correct the neglect experienced by coloured communities in Gauteng, premier and ANC provincial chairperson hopeful David Makhura said.
The outgoing acting chairperson delivered a political report at the ANC Gauteng’s three-day provincial conference, which is currently under way in Irene, Pretoria.
Makhura has been largely touted as the “incoming chairperson” and differing factions have insisted that he is the best person suited to lead Gauteng into the upcoming general elections.
Singling out the coloured community, he said: “As the premier of Gauteng, I have come across indisputable evidence of serious neglect by our government and under-investment in the coloured communities of our province.”
He relayed some of the conversations he often had with coloured communities across the province, saying that some complained of “not being white enough” during apartheid and now of “not being black enough” during a democratic dispensation.
“This neglect will have far-reaching consequences. Crime and drugs have increased, while the standard of living has dropped, including a decline in educational achievement and advancement among our people in these communities,” he explained.
He added that increasing levels of poverty and unemployment had reached extreme levels and had bred anger from the affected communities.