Teachers and learners at the Vukanibantu Primary School in Motherwell are living in fear, as criminals can access the school whenever they want because there is no adequate fencing around the property. During an oversight inspection at the school today, I learnt that teachers and pupils were held at gunpoint by heartless thugs in November last year. The thugs robbed them of their belongings before fleeing the premises before the …


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The Democratic Alliance calls on the Department of Health to take immediate, decisive action against the striking NEHAWU workers who have resorted to violent protests and intimidation. Shutting down emergency services meant to serve the people of this province in their time of crisis is a blatant act of terrorism and should be treated as such. Arrest the instigators, lay criminal charges against them and put them behind bars. Words …


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Eastern Cape government employees who have squandered over a billion rand of public funds have barely been held accountable. More money has been spent irregularly in the Eastern Cape over the past three financial years than what was planned for the controversial Tottenham Hotspurs deal. What makes matters worse is that those responsible are more often than not let off with a warning, or resign before any disciplinary action is …


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The failing infrastructure across the province, and indeed the country, is destroying small towns. Nowhere is the true neglect of government more evident than in the way municipal infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate. I raised this matter in the National Council of Provinces yesterday, when I debated on the State of Municipal Infrastructure under the theme of “Building a viable Municipal Infrastructure Network for Effective and Efficient delivery of …


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Serious questions need to be asked of Department for Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT) MEC, Mlungisi Mvoko, who refuses to reveal details of tenants that owe his Department millions in unpaid rent. In response to a parliamentary question relating to properties owned and operated by the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC), which falls under his Department, MEC Mvoko revealed that rental billing for the second quarter of the …


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It has become abundantly clear that the Eastern Cape Education Department is collapsing and is simply unable to meet the needs of the learners they should be educating. I have written to Premier Oscar Mabuyane, and the DA will be raising our concerns in the Education portfolio committee meeting, to call for immediate steps to be taken to address these shortfalls. During recent school oversight visits across the province, the …


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The people and businesses of the Eastern Cape will have to endure the worst of Eskom’s continuous rolling blackouts, as Premier Oscar Mabuyane has made it clear that there is no provincial plan to deal with the loadshedding crisis. Instead of leading the charge to get the province off the Eskom grid, the Premier has thrown his hands up in the air and made it clear that the province has …


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Today the Democratic Alliance has opened a case against Amathole District Municipal Manager, Thandekile Mnyimba, for allegedly making fraudulent representations regarding his senior qualifications when applying for his job. Mnyimba has long been a thorn in the side of good governance and is a clear example of everything that is wrong with the ANC’s cadre deployment programme. It has come to light that the senior certificate which Mnyimba allegedly provided …


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Nearly a decade later and with R38,5 million already spent, the only thing to show for the provincial government’s Bhisho Precinct pipedream is a patch of vacant land and empty promises. The staggering amount already spent on this failed project was revealed in response to a parliamentary question from the Democratic Alliance, by Premier Oscar Mabuyane. Download Response This catalytic project would see seven provincial departments that currently rent office …


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As the world celebrates international World Water Day today, the Democratic Alliance has launched our Water Watch Eastern Cape initiative. This initiative, which will monitor the water quality results of all Eastern Cape municipalities on a quarterly basis, will serve as a watchdog for the public because, more often than not, municipalities don’t release compromised water quality results. We have experienced, first hand, how the province’s two metros, Nelson Mandela …


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