Author Archives: Sipho Kekana

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IFP’s Velenkosi Hlabisa takes campaign trail to uThukela District in KZN

17 October 2021, 8:14 PM

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Velenkosini Hlabisa has campaigned in uThukela District in western KwaZulu-Natal ahead of the municipal elections. Hlabisa began his visit to the area at Colenso – a rural area still battling water and proper sanitation. He then went to Weenen and Loskop where he addressed hundreds of supporters who had braved the cold and rainy weather to attend the mini-rallies.

The IFP began its campaign visit by handing over a house to a family at Colenso in the Alfred Duma Municipality. Community members in the rural area say they were promised access to water and houses more than 10 years ago.

Colenso is largely a rural area with little to no sanitation. The Khoza family, whose only income is social grants. has been living in a tin shack for years.

Hlabisa says the party decided to build them a house after they heard of the family’s plight.

“This shack has undermined their dignity. Unfortunately, the material that was supposed to build a house for them was brought here by the Alfred Duma Municipality. The councillor who lives here in Colenso came to borrow that material and promised to bring it back. And the material was taken for good.”

In Weenen, the community has said it’s time for a change in leadership.

“We have nothing here. We have no water. We sometimes go for days without access to water. There’s no network. We can’t even apply for online jobs,” says one community member.

“We are struggling. We want to change the situation we are faced with. It’s time for us to change leadership because the one we have isn’t working for us.”

Hlabisa says they hope to win back the Alfred Duma Municipality after the African National Congress (ANC) took over control in 2016.

“People of Uthukela have protested over water, have protested on the problem of sanitation, poor service delivery. The businesses have closed down in Ladysmith because of water shortage.”

The IFP wrapped up campaigning in Loskop, a predominantly ANC area.

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PAC blames the ANC for service delivery issues and corruption

17 October 2021, 6:01 PM

The PAC has blamed the ANC for poor basic service delivery and corruption.

PAC leader Mzwanele Nyhontso was speaking to supporters during an election campaign at the Mokopane Tribal Authority Hall in Limpopo. He encouraged voters to switch their votes to the PAC.

Nyhontso has criticised the ANC for poor services during his address.

He says residents have been robbed of access to basic services, including roads. He says this is a result of poor governance and corruption at a local level.

“It is not because there is no money to fix the roads, but the problem is the tendering system; the problem are thieves who are occupying these positions. The problem is the ruling party who has been stealing everything if they find the opportunity to steal.”

The PAC plans to repossess land and abolish the tendering system, should it be elected.

Nyhontso has encouraged PAC supporters to place them in power.

“These guys steal everything. I attend a workshop with them. They even steal toilet papers. Remove them from government, vote them out comrades. Unemployment is the problem of our country.”

Meanwhile, the party has denied that is plagued by divisions. The PAC has only three seats in 27 Limpopo municipality.

PAC leader Mzwanele Nyhontso on the party’s manifesto and election campaign:

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Ramaphosa says ANC will clean embattled Maluti-A-Phofung Municipality

17 October 2021, 5:15 PM

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa says his party will sweep the embattled Maluti-A-Phofung Municipality. Ramaphosa says municipal officials should understand that basic services such as water and sanitation is a basic right of every resident.

Speaking to the community at Intabazwe in Harrismith, Ramaphosa said he is aware that the people are angry with the ruling party and that he’s glad he came in person to address their issues. He has conceded that local government is in disarray but says all those who will become ANC mayors after the 1st of November local government elections will be put through a strict vetting process. ‘

Ramaphosa is on a campaign trail in the eastern Free State.

ANC has pulled out all stops, vying for votes in the troubled Maluti-A-Phofung Municipality. In less than a month, ANC top officials including its Deputy President, David Mabuza have been in Maluti-A-Phofung to campaign.

Now is the ANC’s president, Ramaphosa, who told the party supporters that the ruling party is rooting out corruption. He has urged and requested the residents to vote for ANC.

He’s committed his party to doing things differently after the upcoming local government elections.

The municipality has been battling with chronic water shortages and power outages.

“This time around, we are also going to place young people as councilors. 25% of our councilors are young people, 46% women. We’ve said women must also come on board and work for people. And we don’t need thieves. We don’t want laziness and we don’t need people who fail to look after people.”

When in Harrismith, Ramaphosa told the residents that he knows about the concerns in the area.

“I’m happy that I’ve come here personally. One of the problems that I’ve heard is that you are complaining about the by-pass. And you’re also complaining about the SEZ (Special Economic Zone), on why is it not getting off the ground. So, I’ve heard about your complaints.”

There have been a series of protests over poor service delivery. Residents of Harrismith like in Qwaqwa say they want government to do right by them.

Ramaphosa has promised to remove incompetent councillors after the local government elections. He says the party will end the trend of placement of people in crucial positions in municipalities for being popular.

ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses supporters in Harrismith, Free State:

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Calm returns to Korsten in Gqeberha

17 October 2021, 4:01 PM

Calm has returned to Korsten in Gqeberha after the violent clashes between taxi operators and foreign national shop owners. During the clashes eight taxis and two vehicles were set alight. A meeting was mediated between the two parties to iron out their differences.The two groups have agreed to work together to strengthen their relationship.

A collision between a car and a taxi was the spark ignited the explosion of violence. It’s alleged the shop owners were defending the driver of the car who was allegedly assaulted by the taxi driver.It escalated rapidly from there. The minister of police, Bheki Cele, also flew in to Gqeberha, a day later to assess the situation.

UPDATE | Taxi violence in Gqeberha:

Mediator Dr Raj Govender says as part of the recommendations the two groups have agreed to form a joint task team.

“The task team will be mandated firstly to issue a press statement informing the different constituencies that the matter has been resolved between the two parties. They will allow the police to take the legal prescripts into place so that they can investigate and find solutions to the problems that emanated in Durban Road. And they will also encourage all their constituencies that all further attempts of any violence or unsavory social activity must stop. And the warrying groups will work together going forward.”

Three foreign-owned shops were also petrol-bombed in KwaZakhele and Zwide later during Wednesday evening, but it has not been established if those are linked to Durban Road incident.

NMB Regional Taxi Council General Secretary, Andile Andries, says they welcome the resolutions taken at the meeting.

“In our view, as the taxi industry, we have seen this thing has a potential of spreading across the country hence we said it is very important for us to meet so that we engage, we discuss around the issue so we avoid the spreading of this issue.”

Shaid Mohammed from the Somali Community says they have reached an agreement to visit the victims of the violence and find ways to compensate each other for damages to promote social cohesion.

“To see what damages or whatever the loss so that we all go together and look for compensation. The other issue was that we need to speak with our people, especially the taxi drivers and our community encourage them not to do such violence again.”

Counselling for victims has also been recommended. The two parties have called on the public to refrain from circulating fake images on social media about the incident as it has the potential to incite further violence.

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Growing concern over lack of proper record keeping of South Africa’s public art

16 October 2021, 8:07 PM

There is growing concern over a lack of proper record keeping of South Africa’s public art. With no updated large-scale register, opportunities for theft, loss through carelessness and more are rife.

The South African government has a large art collection, across departments and provinces. But there’s no proper asset register for government’s art estimated at millions of rands.

Museum Collections Curator based at the University of Pretoria Gerard de Kamper says, “When it gets to heritage lists and list of artworks in SA, there were previous attempts to put it together. The first was in middle 1970s. The list still exists but it’s outdated. In the 80s, there was also a project between the University of Johannesburg and National Research Foundation to try and update it, but nobody knows where the document from that audit is. It was originally at the National Research Foundation and they claim it went to the National Archive, but the National Archive doesn’t have it.”

The value art worldwide is over 50 billion dollars according to one report by investment bank, UBS, and Art Basel.

How much is South Africa’s public art worth? According to Kamper it’s hard to tell, precisely because there appears to be no comprehensive register.

The SABC has tried, on numerous occasions, to get comment from custodians of public art on this issue – and failed.

Growing concern over record keeping of South African public art: