All posts relating to Bobby Dubulirhamba Stevenson, Chief Whip in the Eastern Cape Legislature
The DA welcomes the marginal decrease in the unemployment rate for the third quarter. However, when one looks at the expanded unemployment rate, more than half of the province’s labour force is still unemployed. There is a long way to go to break the unemployment cycle. The only way we will turn the unemployment crisis around is if the ANC changes its hostile stance towards business and accepts that they …
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A tsunami of violent crime continues to sweep through the Eastern Cape, fuelled by a culture of lawlessness which sees people brutally murdered, buildings hijacked, long-distance buses attacked and taxi warfare. The second quarter crime statistics, released today, once again reinforce the province’s reputation as the killing field of South Africa. In the three months under review, 1 303 people were murdered across the province, a 31,3% increase compared to …
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Over the past three years, more than 100 000 calls from people in East London seeking assistance from the police in a time of crisis never got answered. Even more damning is that the call centre has been without a reliable uninterrupted power supply since 2019! Individuals who are facing terror and danger from criminals in a time of crisis cannot be thrown to the wolves in this fashion. The …
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The DA welcomes the inroads made by the new Eastern Cape SAPS task team established to combat vandalism in Nelson Mandela Bay. However, there is still a long way to go before the onslaught on public infrastructure is brought under control. Residents are beyond fed up with having to deal with constant traffic delays, dark streets, no water in their taps and no power in their homes because of rampant …
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Severe staff shortages, absenteeism, loadshedding and damaged infrastructure have crippled Nelson Mandela Bay’s 10111 emergency call centre, leaving residents unable to get help in their time of crisis. The failure to answer calls is potentially life-threatening to people in danger from the criminal onslaught. Residents of Nelson Mandela Bay have been thrown to the wolves, with no recourse to help from SAPS. In response to an oral question during a …
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Residents of the Eastern Cape have been shellshocked by the bloody wave of violent crime that has swept through the province over the last few weeks. We cannot afford to lose hope that the situation cannot be turned around and give up on fighting for solutions. It is for this reason that I have introduced a motion in the Eastern Cape Legislature calling on SAPS, together with the Department of …
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Over the last two and a half years there have been 95 reported attacks on long-distance passenger buses in the Eastern Cape. If these acts of economic sabotage continue unchecked, it will ultimately destroy part of our transport network and along with-it jobs. In response to a parliamentary question from the DA, new Community Safety MEC, Xolile Nqatha, revealed that there has been a dramatic uptick in attacks on long-distance …
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Premier Oscar Mabuyane has deliberately avoided holding his MECs to account, dodging a question about which of his executive have failed to meet their performance targets. Without full and transparent accountability MECs will become a law unto themselves and poor service delivery will remain the order of the day. Name, shame and remove them, Premier, the people have the right to know! During a special sitting of the Eastern Cape …
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The Eastern Cape needs a fundamental policy shift if we are to address the staggering unemployment crisis in this province. Unless urgent action is taken, the ANC could soon be facing its own Arab Spring! The rising poverty, hunger and hardship that residents are suffering is going to explode at some point unless bold measures are taken to change the trajectory of the province. We need to be engaging with …
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The latest crime stats, for the first quarter of the 22/23 financial year reveal a bleak picture of escalating crime in the Eastern Cape. Our people are being murdered, raped and robbed at an alarming rate. There were 1200 murders recorded over the three months from April to June 2022, up from 1020 reported for the same period last year (up 17%). The Eastern Cape again has the highest per …
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