Boschberg ‘Mountain of Dreams’ now ‘Mountain of Nightmares’
February 11th, 2021
The R 11.7 million Boschberg ‘Mountain of Dreams’ tourism hub in Somerset East could now be described as a ‘Mountain of Nightmares’ as this tourism hub, developed to grow the local economy, lies in ruins. Identified as a key development project for the Blue Crane Development Agency, which has since been disbanded, the Boschberg Tourism Hub was completed in 2015, but is now nothing more than an abandoned pile of …
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Provincial govt must act as municipal Eskom debt soars past R2-billion mark
January 29th, 2021
The Provincial Government must step in and assist Eastern Cape municipalities, who now owe Eskom more than R2-billion rand in total, as municipalities are forced to dip deeper into their equitable share to pay their debts. Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Xolile Nqatha, is bound by the Section 139 (5) of the constitution and has no choice but to impose a recovery plan to ensure that each of these …
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Provincial intervention in Amathole DM long overdue
January 21st, 2021 The Democratic Alliance in the Eastern Cape welcomes the decision of the Eastern Cape Provincial Government’s Executive Council to finally implement Section 139 (5)(a) of the Constitution, to address the challenges in the Amathole District Municipality (ADM). This step is long overdue, as the warning lights have been flashing for quite some time. The recovery plan put in place must ensure the municipality is able to meet its obligations to …
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ADM task team appointment good first step, but more needs to be done
January 19th, 2021 The Democratic Alliance welcomes the announcement of the appointment of a multi-disciplinary task team for the Amathole District Municipality, whose task will be to strengthen and implement a sustainable financial recovery plan for the Municipality. This is exactly what the DA proposed to the MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Xolile Nqatha, in a letter dealing with this issue, last week. Letter attached While this is a positive first …
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Process of establishing new EC ward boundaries fatally flawed
December 2nd, 2020 Critical public engagements over the changing of ward boundaries in the Eastern Cape, known as delimitation, have not taken place, which means the submissions made by the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) are fatally flawed and bring the entire process into question. While the Covid-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the ability of institutions such as the MDB to carry out the usual face to face public participation processes, …
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Changing municipal borders is not the answer
November 19th, 2020 The MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Xolile Nqatha, has finally admitted that the ANC’s policy of amalgamating smaller municipalities across the Eastern Cape into larger local entities has failed. Changing the municipal borders is not the answer, its like reshuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. These municipalities are going down and unless a sustainable plan is put in place, they will collapse. Last week MEC Nqatha is …
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Urgent intervention needed in Dr Beyers Naude following bulk electricity disruptions
October 23rd, 2020 Residents in the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality are furious and feel that they have been thrown to the wolves, as they are yet again being punished for the failures of their uncaring municipality. Effective from today Willowmore, Steytlerville and Jansenville are currently without electricity, with Eskom cutting the power for eight and a half hours a day, because the Municipality has failed to honour the last repayment plan agreed …
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COGTA MEC must take decisive steps against OR Tambo District Municipality
September 15th, 2020 The OR Tambo District Municipality is failing to provide the most basic services to its people, and highlights how the ANC instilled culture of lack of accountability is collapsing government services across the province. The primary objective of this district municipality should be to implement water and sanitation services projects, address backlogs and improve the life of its citizens. Instead it is robbing the people of their basic human rights …
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Where is the R20 million paid for unlawful desalinisation plant?
August 20th, 2020 More than a month after the Grahamstown High Court set aside the controversial and unlawful tender awarded to Quality Filtration Systems (QFS) for the Port Alfred Desalination Plant, and instructed QFS to repay the R20 million already illegally paid out, there is still no money in the municipality’s coffers. I will fight hard to roll back the frontiers of corruption in the Eastern Cape and ensure that residents can live …
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DA’s innovative Plastic Roads project nominated in 2020 Eco-Logic Awards
August 17th, 2020
The Democratic Alliance in the Eastern Cape has secured a place in the finals in two categories of the 2020 Eco-Logic Awards for its innovative Plastic Roads project in Jeffreys Bay, in the DA-run Kouga Municipality. The project has been shortlisted in the Innovation and Eco-Build award categories of the annual event, widely recognised as South Africa’s most glamorous green eco-calendar event, hosted by Enviropaedia. The Eco-Logic Awards, which has …
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