Democratic Alliance leader, Mmusi Maimane, took his party's election programme to Motherwell in Port Elizabeth on Monday, where he promised to do things differently.
Maimane was accompanied by Nelson Mandela Bay mayoral candidate, Athol Trollip, and Ngqura's Constituency leader, Nqaba Bhanga.
According to his speech notes, Maimane told residents that there were areas of Motherwell that represented everything that was wrong with the metro's ANC led municipality.
"When I say that the ANC governs like black lives don't matter, people often are shocked. But I invite them to come down here, and see how the ANC has neglected Motherwell. There is no investment here, no improvement in services. We know that government is difficult, and progress is sometimes slow. But things need to be moving in the right direction, at least. In Motherwell, nothing is happening. Nothing. The Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, under the ANC, has badly neglected this community" he said.
He referred to untarred roads and the use of the bucket toilet system in parts of the township as examples of the ruling party's failure to deliver.
Maimane added that the township had been ignored for decades and the lack of basic services was proof.
"If you want to know whether a local government has its priorities straight, then you should just look at the level of basic services they provide to the communities under their care. Access to water, sanitation and electricity - those three things tell you just about all you need to know about the way a local government serves its people" he added.
Maimane said not only is Nelson Mandela Bay Metro behind on the delivery of RDP houses, but that those same houses were falling apart due to shoddy workmanship.
"Building contracts are awarded corruptly to unqualified contractors who either can't complete the project, or can't deliver the quality required. I am told there are over 40 000 houses here in Nelson Mandela Bay that need to be fixed or completely rebuilt because of poor workmanship" Maimane said.
He said the fact that most people were not legal home-owners because they did not receive title deeds, was disappointing.
"Owning your property - your land and the building on it - is a huge step towards financial independence. Where the DA governs in Cape Town, we make the handing over of title deeds a top priority. Between 2013 and 2015, the City of Cape Town handed over almost 8,000 title deeds to first-time homeowners" he said.
He said in the same period, zero title deeds were handed to RDP beneficiaries in Nelson Mandela Bay.
"Not one single beneficiary of an RDP house in this metro was given ownership of his or her home. That's not good enough. Not when the city has more than 50,000 outstanding title deeds waiting to be transferred" Maimane added.
Maimane will be Worcester in the Western Cape on Tuesday to launch a Braille version of his party's election manifesto.
