ANC President, Cyril Ramaphosa says there are challenges in Nelson Mandela Bay, adding that coalitions at local government level do not work.
He made the remark in his address to supporters at a packed George Botha Community Hall in Bethelsdorp in Port Elizabeth's Northern Areas on Sunday morning.
Ramaphosa said only one political party could effectively govern at local government level.
He said the ANC was on its way to correct things that needed to be put right in the country.
The president said one of the issues that was a cause for violence and criminality was unemployment, and government had put a strategy in place to deal with it.
"There are many reasons why it is prevailing in the way that it is, but I want to say to communities that are reeling under the weight of violence, and the scourge of violence that is spreading throughout the country, that at Cabinet level, we had come up with a strategy - a strategy that is going to put the criminals behind bars", Ramaphosa said.
The president said the ANC would create jobs because the country was attracting more investors.
Ramaphosa was also to meet with the family of 12-year-old Alvineesha Brookes, who was shot and killed during gang violence in the city's Northern areas late in March.
The incident sparked community outrage and an attack on a suspect gang member's house leading to the death of 25-year-old Tavern Moss and the serious assault on a 16-year-old youth.
