The city of Cape Town‚ despite its beauty‚ has a long way to go with respect to the severe levels of inequality between various sectors within the community. This sentiment was expressed by Cosatu’s regional secretary for the Western Cape‚ Tony Ehrenreich‚ when he addressed a Press Club lunch in the city’s central business district on Thursday. Ehrenreich stated that while the city continued to neglect the so called black and coloured areas of Cape Town‚ namely the Cape Flats‚ white communities continued to be advantaged.Ehrenreich presses De Lille: ‘Debate me so you can denigrate me in public’Congress of South African Trade Union (Cosatu) provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich has challenged Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille to a public debate in an escalating war of words over how the city is run. In addition‚ the ANC councillor highlighted issues related to the “misuse of public funds” which he charged attempted to “mislead the citizens of Cape Town through a R50 million advertising budget”.“There is a tangible exclusion of certain sectors of the community and their interests are not dealt with in the same way as the wealthy of the city.“In many ways the way the mayor (Patricia de Lille) engages with people is questionable‚ when she goes to the Cape Flats she wears a mask over her mouth‚ because of the sanitation issues in the area‚ so she immediately distances herself from the things people need to deal with every day‚” he said.However‚ Ehrenreich said that in his view‚ politicians across the board‚ within all parties‚ had a limited sense of urgency when it came to serving the needs of the people.“It is important to scrutinise the linkage between where politicians find themselves and what they do. Political leaders across the board don’t urgently address the fundamental needs of the people‚” he said. While the city boasted about a first class transport system‚ with specific reference to the MyCiti Bus Cape Town Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) system‚ Ehrenreich said that a great need for public transport remained within the Cape Flats.“We need to show that our policy is reflective of our commitment to better the connection between people from different sectors of our city. With this transport system and its location‚ whose interests does the city serve?” he asked the press club members.Ehrenreich also addressed issues of housing‚ expenditure on facilities‚ safety and security‚ and a “white elite being in control of the city’s economy”.“Leaders need to take action that speaks to the needs of everyone. We need to restructure the economy in a way that the cream of the economy is divided more evenly amongst the people of the city. “We need to ensure that a sense of diversity becomes part of our strength. We need to a leave a better legacy for our children through integration.“The more powerful parties become‚ the more our democracy suffers and so people should vote for what suits their personal interests.“We need to find a new way to do things. We have a bit more time‚ we have a bit more resources than other parts of the country. I hope we have the political will to make a change‚” he said...