The DA unveiled a provocative billboard in Pretoria with a message, "ANC showers in hotels," targeting Premier Panyaza Lesufi for his recent remarks of going to a certain hotel to take a shower in the event of water shortages.
Image: Oupa Mokoena/Independent Newspapers
The DA in Gauteng unveiled a controversial billboard in Pretoria on Tuesday criticising Premier Panyaza Lesufi by depicting him taking a shower while dressed in formal attire, implying that he is out of touch with the people's struggles.
The billboard's message, "ANC showers in hotels," mocks Lesufi's recent remarks about him going "to a certain hotel” to take a shower in the event of water shortages.
Addressing a media briefing last month amid water shortages in Gauteng, Lesufi said: “We also go through (the same thing) I mean in some instances I have to go to a certain hotel so that I have to go to my commitment. We also go through the same inconvenience like any other person, there is no special water or a special pipe that is designed to save these other people and not save these other people."
The premier has since apologised "for any misunderstanding or offence caused” by his public utterances, saying it “may have been interpreted in a manner that suggested that the impact of water challenges differs based on one’s position in society."
DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga criticised Lesufi, saying he was told the province needs a comprehensive plan to tackle issues like water, electricity, and roads, rather than relying on individual municipalities to fix these problems.
"We said to the Premier we want to give you an infrastructure master plan. We want to give you a plan, go and implement it. But because it is not coming from comrades and because it doesn't include people that are eating in there, they don't want that plan," he said.
He said the plan was based on input from engineers and scientists who recommended ways to address water crisis in the province.
Msimanga told a group of DA supporters that Lesufi responded to the proposed plan by saying: "I will jump into my VIP vehicle that you are paying for and I will go to a hotel that you are paying for and I will take a shower."
He stated that the billboard serves to inform Lesufi that showing such contempt for the people of Gauteng is unacceptable.
"No resident can afford to hire hotel rooms to get a shower because your failing government denies them water at home,” said Msimanga.
He said the City of Joburg alone needs R200 billion, adding that the same applies to the City of Tshwane and Emfuleni local municipality.
"We have struggled with electricity for almost 15 or 16 years and we have said we are going to have the same problem with water unless there is something that gets to be done. What do they do? They blame residents for water usage. They don't say we are losing almost 50% of water underground," he said.
DA Joburg mayoral candidate Helen Zille predicted that the ANC will lose its majority in every single municipality in Gauteng, citing service delivery failure and rampant corruption affecting people.
She slammed the ANC leadership, saying they have lost touch with the people on the ground.
"When people have been out of water for weeks and months Panyaza Lesufi thinks there is no problem, saying 'what are you fussing about? I just go to a hotel'. He has completely lost touch with the reality of everybody's lives," she said.
Zille mentioned ordinary people cannot afford to have a shower in hotels like Lesufi even if they lived a walking distance from hotels.
"So for him, the water shortage means nothing. He just goes and has a shower like in that picture. I hope he takes his clothes off. We should have AI to see his six pack," she said.
Tshwane DA mayoral candidate Cilliers Brink said: "We are in a year where the DA and our coalition partners were removed from power. Spending on water tankers to areas that should have water in their taps has increased from less than R200 million to more than a billion rand. We are in the same period of time where water losses have shot up from 32% to 40% in one year. The choice of this political leadership is to give people water not in their taps but tankers."
rapula.moatshe@inl.co.za