A breaking news post that will appear at the top of the queue on the front page of the website.
The Eastern Cape has the worst police stations in the country, with 70 stations in the province in such a bad state that they pose a health and safety risk to occupants and cause major disruption to service capability. Of the 148 stations in the poor category across the country, nearly half are situated in the Eastern Cape. The DA will be escalating the matter to the National Assembly to …
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A motion brought by the Democratic Alliance calling for the implementation of a Water Security Master Plan for each Eastern Cape Municipality has spurred the EC Legislature to act on the water crisis. The Kouga Local Municipality and the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipalities have already started running out of water. This is disastrous as households, businesses, schools and hospitals will be left to function without water and sanitation, which will …
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The Eastern Cape SAPS is losing control of the spiralling violent crime in the province, with the highest murder rate per capita in the country at 15.7 murders per 100 000 people. The province also has the highest rape rate per capita with 27.6 rapes per 100 000 people. This carnage that is sweeping through our society is fuelling severe anxiety as more and more people are terrified by brutal …
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There has been a massive decline in the number of police reservists, with figures dropping by a staggering 75% over the past six years, resulting in significant setbacks to safety in the province. There are thousands of potential volunteers out there! Let’s harness the energy of the whole of society working together to restore trust in SAPS and plug the safety vacuum. The drastic declines were revealed in several responses …
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There has been a huge spike in vandalism cases of essential infrastructure in both the Nelson Mandela Bay and Buffalo City metros over the past financial year, placing significant strain on service delivery to residents. In Nelson Mandela Bay, reported cases more than doubled, rising from 143 cases in the 2020/2021 financial year to 292 reported cases in 2021/2022 financial year. For the same period under review, in Buffalo City, …
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Nearly half of the Eastern Cape’s drinking water is at risk, with the Department of Water and Sanitation saying some systems are so severely compromised they have been flagged as critical risks, where water safety for consumers cannot be guaranteed. This is according to the latest Blue Drop report, the first of its kind to be released in nearly a decade. The report paints a devastatingly bleak picture of failing …
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Municipalities are owed a staggering R22 billion by Eastern Cape residents and businesses, a ballooning spiral of debt that highlights just how dire the state of household finances in our province has become. The figures were provided by Finance MEC, Mlungisi Mvoko, in response to a parliamentary question from the Democratic Alliance and raise alarms over upcoming municipal rates hikes. Download response The DA will once again appeal to Provincial …
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At the beginning of the month, the Mayor of the Amahlati Local Municipality, Onke Mgunculu, officially opened the Keiskammahoek Fire Station to celebrate his first 100 days in office. A recent oversight inspection of the new facility by myself and DA Constituency Leader, Nomvano Zibonda, revealed that the Mayor’s claims are a sham. On inspecting the new station, we found an empty building with no furniture, no staff, flooded floors, …
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There has been a dramatic spike in beachfront crime within the Humewood policing precinct, in Nelson Mandela Bay, which could in part be attributed to the appalling vacancies at the Humewood Police Station. The shortage of manpower allocated to the station needs to be resolved urgently. In response to a parliamentary question I submitted in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, Community Safety MEC, Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe, revealed that the Humewood police …
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The Eastern Cape Health Department has finally admitted defeat and announced that they have cancelled the controversial Aeromedical tender and advised that they will be putting out a new call for service providers. The Democratic Alliance has been relentless in its opposition to this contract as we smelt a rat right from the start. This is a victory for common sense. Sadly, this means that Eastern Cape residents will be …
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