CAPE TOWN - The proposed wall on the N2 in Cape Town sparked a heated exchange between the ANC and the DA during an election debate.
Both DA Cape Town Mayoral Candidate, Geordin Hill-Lewis, and ANC representative Jeremia Thuynsma weighed in on whether the project would improve safety or divert attention from the deeper social ills Capetonians face.
The clash followed the presentation of an eNCA MarkData poll.
It found that 69.6% of respondents were in favour of the wall, 19.9% were against, while 10.5% were undecided.
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Thuynsma questioned the purpose of the project, adding that if the city was serious about fighting crime, it would direct its resources to the areas crime most affects.
'The reality is that crime is a big problem in the entire Cape Flats, and he's not attending to it. He must be responsible for the answers that he gives. The wall on the N2 is just basically taking money from the resources that are given to the state to attend to our people's problems for a nice-to-have.'
Alongside tackling crime, he also called on the city to address the underlying causes of the scourge including unemployment, poverty and housing shortages.
'If we basically build houses in a community, allow the community to build the houses, that will be creating jobs where the projects are. You are fixing roads; let the community do it, because that is what EPWP was about...The more people work, the less possibility you have of them getting involved in crime.'
But Hill-Lewis rejected Thuynsma’s criticism. Using the survey results, he said those who voted in favour of the project are those who are concerned about their safety.
'70% of the city, real people who travel that road every day and who put up with a lack of safety on that road and who are terrified to use that road, those are the 70% of people who want to feel safer in the city. You should not oppose a practical intervention that will improve their safety just because of your political hypocrisy.' he said.