Safety MEC reveals long-distance bus services under threat from intimidation.
September 20th, 2022
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 …
Read More
Premier covers for inept MECs
September 8th, 2022
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 …
Read More
Province needs fundamental policy shift to address unemployment crisis
August 23rd, 2022
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 …
Read More
Latest crime stats paint a bleak picture of escalating crime in EC
August 19th, 2022 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 …
Read More
EC Cabinet reshuffle missed opportunity
August 16th, 2022
Premier Oscar Mabuyane missed the opportunity to make more extensive changes to his cabinet this afternoon, choosing to purge his opponents rather than bring hope to the people of the province. Health and Education are in serious crisis, where a change of leadership desperately needs to occur, yet these posts remain untouched. The newly appointed cabinet members will be under huge pressure to deliver quality services in the run-up to …
Read More
EC police stations worst in the country
July 18th, 2022
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 …
Read More
DA gets answers on Day Zero safety
June 27th, 2022 The Democratic Alliance welcomes the fact that there are plans in place by SAPS to deal with any possible unrest or vandalism that might take place around Day Zero. As part of our campaign to ensure preparedness for Day Zero in Nelson Mandela Bay, I raised this issue by way of a question for an oral reply to MEC Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe, last week in the provincial legislature. See Reply IQP …
Read More
The Eastern Cape is in the midst of a dire youth unemployment crisis, with four out of every five youth between the ages of 15 and 24 without work. The Democratic Alliance is demanding that Premier Oscar Mabuyane spell out, on Youth Day later this week, what it is that his government is doing to offer hope to the young people of this province. He needs to provide viable interventions …
Read More
Eastern Cape crime spiralling out of control
June 3rd, 2022
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 …
Read More
Eastern Cape Unemployment remains stubbornly high
May 31st, 2022
The Eastern Cape still has the highest unemployment statistics in the country. Although the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey has shown that there has been a decline of 1% in the unemployment statistics for the Eastern Cape, down from 45% to 44% and 0.6 down for the expanded unemployment, from 53.2% to 52.6%, the unemployment remains stubbornly high in the province. The ANC provincial government is failing to provide the …
Read More
For an archive on all articles by Bobby Stevenson, please click here