Deputy President Paul Mashatile has come under fire for blaming apartheid for the lack of service delivery.
Mashatile was answering questions in the National Council of Provinces when he said the government of the African National Congress (ANC) has delivered most of the basic services that were denied to black communities during apartheid.
However, he said the fact they have not been able to reach some of the communities did not mean nothing has happened.
He said the apartheid government had failed to provide water, electricity and infrastructure to black communities.
He said when he grew up in Alexandra township, in Johannesburg, he used a candle to study.
But users on X, formerly known as Twitter, slammed him on Wednesday for continuing to blame apartheid for the lack of service delivery, 3o years after apartheid came to an end.
One user, @Phillshaz ka Nghezimani said the governing party cannot cling to the apartheid story today.
“Only corruption led to poor service, we can’t be blaming apartheid at this point. The question is: What did we do after apartheid?”
Another user, @Wolaganathan said former President Nelson Mandela built the foundation for the democratic government, It was up to the current administration to attend to the challenges.
“Life was good (there was hope) when Nelson Mandela was in charge. He built the foundation of the country that we should build on. The ones that came after him just destroyed everything and now blame apartheid.”
They said the 30 years that it has been in power has not led to progress in the country, but everything was in a state of crisis.
There was a lack of service delivery and the leadership was nowhere to be found to address governance issues.
One user, @Leth9OJerry said it cannot be business as usual.
“For how long will he keep on blaming apartheid? Look how decaying is Johannesburg. It is collapsing daily. Alexandra was much better under apartheid but look at it now. Government of National Unity is the answer after this 2024 election.”
Another user, @GoitseMarake said they were tired of the same old story of blaming apartheid.
The ANC has been in power for many years and had the time to address all the challenges, fix the infrastructure and build the economy.
“Until when are we going to hide behind apartheid to cover our shortfalls. What are we doing to correct the past besides excuses. Failure to accept our mistakes inhibit us from correcting them.“
Users on social media said the government must get its house in order and not to continue to talk about apartheid when everything was collapsing.
siyabonga.mkhwanazi@inl.co.za
Politics