Graaff Reinet community rally as ANC fail to address water crisis
February 18th, 2019
The Graaff Reinet residents are outraged as raw sewage is believed to be flowing into the Nqweba Dam, while the quality of water in their taps has drastically deteriorated as the water crisis deepens. This follows after sewage has been flowing from the nearby sewerage works for the past six months, due to a broken pump, which has yet to be repaired by the municipality, despite numerous reports of the …
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Graaff Reinet waste transfer site reported to Green Scorpions
February 13th, 2019
I have written to the Green Scorpions to report that the Graaff Reinet waste transfer site is in a deplorable state and is an absolute health hazard as well as a safety risk for residents of the municipality. Please view the letter below: Letter I have requested that the Green Scorpions take steps against the municipality for allowing this environmental health situation to reach disastrous levels. Hopefully, this will draw …
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Taps, along with service delivery, runs dry in Klipplaat
November 22nd, 2018
Thousands of people in the Karoo town of Klipplaat have been denied their Constitutional right of access to water for more than a week, with taps in running dry in homes, schools and clinics across the town. What makes it worse, is that the situation was entirely preventable as, despite the drought, there is water. It is simply not reaching the intended end-consumer. I have written to the MEC of …
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R49 Million spent on “Critical” Bhisho precinct, with no tangible results
November 21st, 2018 The Department of Public Works has blown through R49-million on the anticipated Bhisho Precinct, which is aimed at alleviating the issue of office space for several provincial departments, but has nothing to show for it. In the interim, while the tender process for the precinct is plagued by delays, the provincial government is currently spending in excess of R238 million a year on office rental. I will be asking follow-up …
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Children denied new schools as Department fails to pay contractors
November 19th, 2018 The Department of Public Works owes contractors attending to the upgrading and construction of schools in the Eastern Cape in excess of R 104 million, which has led to the suspension and imminent suspension of 37 school projects. The Department also owes consultants on these projects a further R9 million. This means learners continue to suffer in overcrowded classrooms, prefabricated structures that reach boiling point in summer and generally poor …
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Bulk electricity disruptions will further cripple the Eastern Cape’s failing economy
October 23rd, 2018 Thousands of businesses and residents in the Eastern Cape are facing the reality of not having electricity, even though they have paid for the service, because their municipalities have failed to pay Eskom. Eskom has announced planned power disruptions that will cripple the already failing Eastern Cape economy. Businesses will be forced to close their doors and thousands of jobs stand to be lost. This is a clear indication of …
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The Democratic Alliance in the Eastern Cape has written to the MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Fikile Xasa, to intervene and ensure that the Steytlerville refuse site is adequately maintained to prevent a health hazard to surrounding communities. Pleas from the community to the ANC-led Dr Beyers Naude Municipality, to do the work that ratepayers are paying for, have simply been ignored. The lack of management has seen …
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Failing ANC deprives rural areas of Home Affairs services
October 3rd, 2018 Thousands of people living in remote regions of the Eastern Cape are being deprived of their basic rights as citizens of South Africa, because the South African government does not care enough to provide them with the services they are entitled to. A case in point are the rural areas such as Willowmore, and Steytlerville where people must travel to either Graaff Reinet or Oudtshoorn, which is hours away, in …
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Learners in Graaff Reinet left in the lurch as province fails to pay
September 18th, 2018 Thousands of learners in Graaff Reinet have been left in the lurch as critical upgrades to their schools have ground to a halt because the Department of Public Works has failed to pay service providers for more than a year. Contractors, sub-contractors and consultants who were tasked with the upgrades at Lincolm and Ashervale Schools have abandoned the sites after not being paid for 15 months, with many being forced …
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Still zero accountability for disastrous road contract in Emalahleni
August 29th, 2018
The Department of Transport continues to ignore the disastrous state of a road in Chris Hani Local Municipality, emanating from questionable contracts awarded in 2014. The road to Nkolonga Village in Emalahleni Municipality (DR08569), was earmarked for re-gravelling to a ‘safe and acceptable standard’ in 2014 and the Department of Roads and Public Works appointed Big Eye Investments to do the work. The company was paid R7-million to re-gravel four …
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