Mervyn Dirks-Something to hide?

The Witness: "Media barred from Exco after Witness expose"
YESTERDAY’s exposé about massive individual overtime claims at Msunduzi Municipality had unforseen consequences when the media was denied entry to the executive committee (Exco) meeting.

Acting Mayor Mervyn Dirks deliberately misled journalists before the sitting by telling them to wait outside as a confidential item was to be discussed before they would be called in.

However, officials walked out two hours later and proclaimed the proceedings over. When journalists asked Dirks why he had neglected to call them in after discussions on the confidential matter wrapped up, he said it was decided inside that the entire meeting would be confidential as only internal issues would be discussed.

DA councillor Bill Lambert was quick to dispute the claim.

“I asked why the press weren’t brought in. We discussed the agenda, not confidential items. It’s a clamp on the freedom of speech and I’m absolutely incensed. This is worse than the lights going off and it’s very sad for our democracy,” he said.

Dirks responded by claiming that it was an oversight on his part, but this is not the first time he has barred the media from sitting in on an Exco meeting.

Inside sources later told The Witness that no confidential matters were discussed. They said Dirks was in huff because his bodyguard’s overtime claims were exposed in yesterday’s Witness, and he retaliated by denying the media access.

Sources also said a resolution was passed that no journalist would be allowed to sit in on any future finance committee meetings.

“It’s because they are hiding corruption and don’t want to be exposed. It’s not right,” said a source.

The DA caucus leader in the KZN Legislature, John Steenhuisen, said Dirk’s actions are illegal according to sections of the Municipal Systems Act and the Constitution.

“It is entirely inappropriate for the media to be barred from meetings unless there are exceptional circumstances; the council must explain what these circumstances are,” he said.

Steenhuisen added: “Given the recent history of the Msunduzi Municipality, it would be a disaster if they closed the meetings. They have got up to enough skullduggery in open meetings. The mind boggles as to what they will get up to if they suddenly start meeting behind closed doors!”

Inkatha Freedom Party councillor Dolo Zondi was not present during yesterday’s sitting and attempts to make reach him by phone were not successful.

Massive overtime fraud

The Witness: "Overtime madness in Msunduzi Municipality"
INDIVIDUAL overtime claims at the Msunduzi Municipality have reached shocking proportions and evidence indicates that many security staffers are getting away with earning fat-cat salaries at ratepayers’ expense.

According to a list of just 36 of the municipality’s many security personnel, singular overtime claims per person for July and August range from R3 731,56 to R53 980,74. These amounts exclude basic pay.

For instance, one of deputy mayor Mervyn Dirks’s bodyguards pocketed R45 578,49 for overtime in July, while August saw him take home an overtime amount of R47 988,95. This adds up to an individual overtime total of R93 567,44 in just two months.

One of mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo’s bodyguards received R37 534,70 for overtime in July and his August overtime pay reached R46 592,88. His two-month individual overtime total amounted to R84 127,58.

But bodyguards are not the only municipal security employees who are pocketing exorbitant amounts in overtime.

The list also cites the excessive overtime payments dished out to traffic officers and security guards. For example, one earned R31 933,72 in July and R53 980,74 in August, bringing his two-month total to R85 914, 46.

Another received R34 327,86 for July and R39 983,58 in August, which amounted to R74 311,44 over the two months.

September salary slips in the possession of The Witness tell the same story. A security officer in training pocketed R39 085,20 in overtime, which is almost four times his basic monthly salary of R10 245,55. His gross earnings for the month were R52 270,55.

Even refuse collectors are coining it. One managed to pocket R15 030,40 in overtime for September, which was a major boost to his basic monthly salary of R5 328,12. He grossed a tidy R21 371,07 for that month.

Given these figures, it comes as no surprise that the municipality is failing to curb overtime spending.

Last month, The Witness reported that the municipality had already spent R25 million of the R33,5 million overtime budget barely three months into the new financial year.

Hlatshwayo said at the time: “It seems to be unregulated and it is all over the place in waste, in traffic, in security.”

At the end of the 2008/09 financial year, The Witness reported that the municipality managed to exceed its R43,4 million overtime budget by a whopping R22,5 million.

Leading the pack in terms of overtime expenditure that year was the community services business unit. It alone used up R29,5 million out of the R43,4 million overtime budget.

Asked to comment about the municipality’s poor financial discipline, Dirks — who is acting mayor in Hlatshwayo’s absence — said it is an administrative issue that the relevant managers should comment on.

Deputy municipal manager for community services Zwe Hulane referred The Witness to municipal manager Rob Haswell for comment, but Haswell failed to respond by the time of going to print. Attempts to get a response from the municipality’s chief financial officer, Roy Bridgmohan, were also unsuccessful.

According to the Labour Relations Act, it is not legal for employees to work more than 10 hours of overtime a week.

In a report by Haswell on October 8, with the title “Reduction Overtime Expenditure”, he admits that the municipality is contravening the act and are spending too much on overtime.

“From a budget of R33,5 million for the 09/10 year, we have only some R8 million left, and many employees are working for more than the maximum 10 hours of overtime per week as prescribed in the act,” wrote Haswell.

According to the Labour Relations Act, it is not legal for employees to work more than 10 hours of overtime a week.

In a report written by Rob Haswell on October 8 with the title “Reduction Overtime Expenditure”, he admits that the municipality is contravening the act and are spending too much on overtime.

“From a budget of R33, 5 million for the 09/10 year, we have only some R8 million left, and many employees are working for more than the maximum 10 hours of overtime per week as prescribed in the act,” wrote Haswell.

“I’M absolutely horrified,” said DA councillor Bill Lambert.

He told The Witness his party has raised the overtime issue constantly in Exco meetings, and Haswell was ordered to bring a report to Exco explaining how he is going to save council’s overtime money.

“If it was known that these people were exceeding the legal overtime limits, why was it not acted upon? This is a joke that’s not even funny,” he said.

IFP councillor Dolo Zondi said he is alarmed and cannot understand how general workers can earn such massive salaries.

“It has been happening for some time. Ever since I’ve been a councillor in this municipality, we’ve been cautioning against overtime,” he said.

Zondi said he had asked Exco in the past to get an assessment risk level that would probe whether bodyguards are indeed necessary.

“It’s not opposition parties that are threatening them. They need bodyguards to protect them from people in their own party.”

He said the overtime issue is proof that management was failing because they are the ones who sign off on the payments.

“THIS situation in Msunduzi is just another indication of an organisation where the management appears to have completely lost the political willpower to implement systems and controls. There are little or no up-front working systems required to be in place to measure and monitor council resolutions, service delivery, financial controls, much less complaints and responses to and from the ratepayer.

“The deputy municipal managers (DMMs) are not being held accountable by the municipal manager. The municipal manager no longer appears accountable to the mayor.

“How is one able to establish if this money was in fact paid when, generally, all correspondence to the DMM for community services, Zwe Hulane, under whose control the security, traffic, waste, parks and health units fall, is without fail never responded to, and is simply ignored by him, and those who fall under his control?

“The situation is fast reaching the stage in Msunduzi where the lunatics now appear to be running the asylum.”

The metro wars

The Witness: "The metro wars"
ALLEGED infighting among Afri­can National Congress members over Pietermaritzburg’s metro status has once again thrust into the limelight the future management of the region.....

Msunduzi tardiness

The Witness: "Msunduzi tardiness"
HAVING visited the Garden and Leisure Show I noticed, sadly, that the Msunduzi Municipal display was given a low mark for not completing on time.

What’s new? The municipality shows a complete indifference to completing any of its tasks on time, including its day-to-day duties.

SANDRA MILANESE
Lidgetton

Comments:

Posted by Earle on 05 Oct 2009
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Tardiness
I worked in the Town Clerk's department in the mid 60's and mid 70's, and felt priveleged to have worked with men and women of such high standards. David Coleman was the Witness municipal reporter in those days. I don't believe that your current "Town Clerk", so to speak, would have filled the shoes of Vusi, who was a cleaner of great integrity. Your current mayor leaves even less to be desired. In those times, no detail was ever left wanting. Councillors were not paid and did what they did for the city because of their business expertise, generally.

The Witness

The Witness: "Woman relives rape ordeal"
A 51-YEAR-OLD woman who was robbed, raped and subjected to repeated sexual assaults in her Scottsville home by a young assailant wielding a carving knife in April 2008, told the high court in Pietermaritzburg yesterday that more than a year later she still has nightmares about the attack.

The woman, who remained composed, described how she pleaded with her attacker for her life throughout her two-hour ordeal and begged him not to stab her.

Once, as she pleaded with him, he responded that he “felt like murdering someone”.

There were times he spoke to her, asking personal questions like whe­ther she was married and if she had a boyfriend. The woman said she thought the attack was premeditated because it emerged, for example, that the rapist knew exactly what car her boyfriend drove and when he had last visited her.

She told the court that throughout the man was “in control” and seemed to know exactly what he was doing. Twice he made her take a bath after raping her, and also made her wash the bed sheets. While she was in the bath he stood next to her holding the knife.

He spoke good English and she got the impression he had a “good education”, she testified.

The victim identified 20-year-old accused Sanele Nhlankanipho Shezi of Scottsville as her assailant.

She previously pointed him out during a police identity parade when she requested that he be made to shave off a moustache he had grown, so that she could properly identify him by a distinguishing white pigmentation mark above his top lip.

The victim said the ordeal started after she spilled some coffee and went into the back yard to fetch a mop.

Shezi accosted her with a carving knife. He slapped her, forced her back inside and demanded money. He made her empty her handbag on to the dining table and then put her cash, along with her bank card and pin number, into his jeans pocket.

When they entered her bedroom he immediately told her to switch on the television, turn up the sound and lie on the bed. He then started raping her.

The woman said he eventually left after tying her hands behind her back with the telephone cord and gagging her with a scarf. He locked the bedroom.

After freeing her hands, she first barricaded the door with bedroom furniture before pressing the panic button in case he was still in the house. She then screamed for help through her bathroom window and alerted neighbours. They and the police had to kick open the locked bedroom door.

The woman told Judge Achmat Jappie and two assessors that after her terrifying ordeal she felt unable to return to her home and went to stay with friends. She could not even bring herself to go home to fetch clothing or personal items unless someone accompanied her.

She said she sold the house after three months.

She testified that she was independent before the attack, but since then has been too afraid to go out in the evening to visit people.

She has had counselling, but still sometimes has nightmares.

Shezi pleaded guilty to six counts of rape, but denied two other rape allegations, stating he “could not remember” these alleged acts, as well as a charge of sexual assault. He also pleaded not guilty to robbery with aggravating circumstances.

‘

he told me he felt like murdering someone. Rape survivor


Posted by chantel on 01 Sep 2009
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woman relives rape ordeal
bring back the death penalty!!

Posted by Neville on 01 Sep 2009
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Woman Raped
If the accussed is found guilty hang the bastard.

Maybe a better punishment is to hand him over to a men's group against rape of woman.

His admiting of rape proves this thing is not human

It is a pity he didn't perform his rape in a Muslim country.

The court must act harshly in this matter because rape is becoming a national sport in this country.

Posted by Anonymous on 01 Sep 2009
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This person should be subjected to the same ordeal. Give him to the community and let them sort him out as the goverment cannot. Hang him up by his private parts in a public place!!!! Then leave the rest to the community.

The Witness

The Witness: "Residents cry foul"
FOLLOWING a report in The Witness about how home owners in Pietermaritzburg are struggling to pay increased bills for electricity and rates, more residents have called to voice their frustrations. These are some of the responses posted on the Witness website:

•“It seems to me the municipality is only targeting certain areas. My house value has escalated from R400 000 to R800 000. If the municipality believes my house is worth so much, by all means they can pay me that amount and take my house. Furthermore, the consultants in charge of valuations have never been to my area, let alone to my house.”

•“It would be interesting to know exactly where our money is going. Our streets are disgusting and there is very little one can do when phoning the municipality as the staff appear to lack skills in client relations. To solve this problem, perhaps each residential area should be given the money and the responsibility of cleaning up. That way, we know that our money is not going into the pockets of those who are doing nothing but feathering their own nests.”

•“What the city council has done is despicable and immoral. To raise rates and electricity tariffs substantially in the middle of a global recession is heartless.”

•“We are going to see more property and car repossessions in the near future. Responsible governments around the world are doing their best to shield consumers from the harsh effects of the recession, but our greedy lot are going for the kill. How shameful.”

•“Something is drastically wrong here. We live in a country that receives among the most sunlight hours in the world, meaning solar energy is just waiting to be used, freely. I have seen many developing countries subsidise the installation of such panels. Of course, municipalities are concerned about the expected reduction of revenues associated with this and therefore there is no encouragement for it. Maybe we need to be thinking more innovatively about this politically and economically, let alone environmentally. Why are we waiting for something that’s ultimately inevitable? Its only our mindset that’s holding us back …” — WR.

The Witness

The Witness: "City’s cash flow crisis
31 Aug 2009"
THE Msunduzi Municipality is on the verge of a financial crisis.

This is evident in a report written by acting municipal manager Phil Mashoko, which was tabled at last Wednesday’s full council meeting and then suddenly withdrawn at the insistence of council speaker Alpha Shelembe.

Well-placed sources told The Witness that the reason for the sudden withdrawal of the report is that it contains a confidential item about the municipality’s cash flow crisis that was not to be discussed in the presence of the media.

When Mashoko attempted to present the report, Shelembe cut him off and said discussion of the report would be delayed. When DA councillor Bill Lambert asked why “such a good report” is being delayed, Shelembe said there are certain aspects that need to be discussed by the executive commitee (Exco) first.

According to the report, which The Witness now has in its possession, the municipality’s cash flow position is a cause for serious concern.

“… the cash flow position of this municipality is not as healthy as it should be. As at 30 June 2009, the cash position decreased from R256 million to R125 million. As at 25 August 2009, the cash balance position stood at R100 million.”

The report goes on to say that although the municipality’s monthly collection rate is at 75%, it still needs to improve its cash position.

The cash reserves were replenished on August 20 by the municipality’s chief financial officer, Roy Bridgmohan, by “drawing down the long-term loans granted in the 2008/09 financial year”.



Local financial fundis are baffled at how the city’s cashflow could drop by R150 million in just two months, from the beginning of July 2009 to the end of August. They say that councillors have every right to expect a full and detailed explanation on how this has happened and as financial experts, they too are curious. This is more so as the report states that the average collection rate for money owing to the municipality stands at 75% over a 30 day period, which is not a critical scenario. These experts believe that the municipality has to become a lot more imaginative in how it draws up the budget and believes more needs to be done to grow the city’s rates base to enhance the city’s coffers..

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Posted by anon on 31 Aug 2009
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GIVE THE COUNTRY BACK TO THE NATS.EVEN THE BLACKS WOULD BENEFIT

Posted by ANONYMOUS on 31 Aug 2009
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WE ALL KNOW WHERE THE MONEY IS PILLING UP!

ON A OTHER NOTE IN THE NORTHDALE AREA THERE WAS NO ELECTRICITY FROM THURSDAY NITE AND ONLY RETURNED ON SATURDAY @ 3:PM I CANT BELIVE THAT THERE WAS NOTHING SAID ABOUT THIS AND THE MUNICIPALITY WANTS US TO PAY OUR LIGHTS & RATES ON THE DUE DATE.LET ME NOT SAY HOW MUCH THAT CAME TO THIS MONTH.I THINK WE SHOULD GIVE BACK THE WHITES TO RUN THE COUNTRY WE WOULD BE MUCH SAFER

Posted by Anonymous on 31 Aug 2009
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This municipality has probably the largest inflow of cash that it has ever had, yes mismanagement appears to be high on the agenda. WHERE HAS ALL THE MONEY GONE??

The Witness

The Witness: "Traffic situation in Pmb"
Traffic situation in Pmb
02 Mar 2009
Pawan Niranjan Bhundoo

It is now becoming a matter of urgency that something be done to alleviate the serious congestion of traffic coming from the Northern suburbs into the city. There is just no way that is flowing soomthly anymore. Traffic has increased drastically over the past few years and this has added to the congestion problem. I commend the traffic department trying the "3 lane thing" in the afternoons. Unfortunately we need something to happen in the mornings as hundreds of people are getting late for work everyday. We are in almost or maybe worse off than the Jhb gridlock situation. Talk of widening Church Street bridge and also cutting a road from the Claridge area to Midlands Mall/Cascades area has been going on for years. Somehow, Hayfields(New England Rd) bridge got the priority and yet that traffic situation was not even half the magnitude of that of Old Greytown Rd, New Greytown Rd, Ohrtmann Rd etc. It is now becoming very streesful every morning trying to map which route may be shorter, sometimes haing to switch your route en route as you get to a point and there is absolutely no movement. Come on Roads and traffic department. This is a situation that needs urgent attention. I would like to see a published response to this letter from any of the parties mentioned.

The Witness

The Witness: "filth of our city"
Dear Editor
i am an ex-resident of pietermartizburg and recently paid my home town a visit. i was disgusted at the amount of litter and rubbist on the side o9n the road, especially the CDB area of Raisethorpe. there is still illegal dumping going on on Old Greutown Riad. what are the ward councillors doing about this, what happened to all the promises? the 'city of choice' is now the city of rubbish

The Witness Editors Comment

The Witness: "Nurturing the environment"
Nurturing the environment
19 Aug 2009

IF the letters pages of this newspaper are taken as a barometer reading of public concerns, then it’s clear that currently many resident­s of Pietermaritzburg and surrounding areas are troubled about environmental matters. For example, many recent letters dep­lored the apparently wanton felling of 200 yellow­wood trees. Was this act committed out of ignorance, as claimed, and if so, how was it that ignorant people were in a position to wreak such destruction? Or was there some more sinister motive behind it, relating to the value of the timber?

Then, yesterday, a correspondent graphically described the litter of every kind, and the filth, including human waste, at Camps Drift — and indicated that Alexandra Park would not be a suitable alternative for a pleasant walk for the same reason.

And for weeks now there has been comment about the historic buildings damaged by fire in the city centre, the neglect, the shortcomings of the fire department and the general decline of infrastructure. Writers have also often complained of blocked storm drains, weed-choked gutters and verges, potholed roads and a general air of seedy decay.

In fact, this groundswell of environmental concern should be seen as part of the generalised, nationwide dissatisfaction with poor “service delivery”, a phenomenon that manifests itself in many different ways, from the provision of housing and essential services to the preservation, maintenance and upgrading of the urban, periurban and rura­l environments.

The Msunduzi Municipality’s Environmental Management Framework (EMF) plans, via consultation with local agencies, to devise strategies for development that will safeguard the natural heritage while providing the goods and services essential to a healthy population and flourishing economy. Important in this connection will be the environmental leadership summit to be hosted by A Rocha South Africa at the Botanical Gardens next week, when data relating to water quality, biodiversity, climate and soil will be presented and solutions to the main threats to sustainability, such as poor sanitation and waste management, will be sought.

Those who have expressed concern will await the outcome of the summit with interest.

News - South Africa: Mayor's guard faces murder charge

News - South Africa: Mayor's guard faces murder charge: "Mayor's guard faces murder charge"
One of the bodyguards of Msunduzi mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo was charged with murder when he made his first appearance in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate's Court.

Nkosivumile Ngubelanga, 30, handed himself over to police on Tuesday, two days after the death of Sibusiso Mahlaba.

Ngubelanga is one of three suspects implicated in the shooting of Mahlaba, 26, who was wounded in the chest on Sunday and died at Edendale Hospital.

Woman on ARVs after blue-light bodyguard spits in her eye - Mail & Guardian Online: The smart news source

Woman on ARVs after blue-light bodyguard spits in her eye - Mail & Guardian Online: The smart news source: "Woman on ARVs after blue-light bodyguard spits in her eye"
A woman is receiving antiretroviral treatment (ARVs) after the Msunduzi mayor's bodyguard spat in her face during a confrontation on the N3 highway in KwaZulu-Natal, Beeld reported on Thursday.

According to the report, Camperdown police opened a case of intimidation and crimen injuria after Kathleen Drummond was allegedly harassed, forced to the side of the road and spat on twice.

The incident occurred on March 18 near the Umbumbulu off-ramp on the N3 and allegedly involved two bodyguards attached to mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo's VIP protection unit.

News - South Africa: Mayor unaware of road-rage incident

News - South Africa: Mayor unaware of road-rage incident: "Mayor unaware of road-rage incident"
Msunduzi mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo on Monday said she was not aware her bodyguard was under investigation by police for assault and pointing a firearm during a road rage incident in Pietermaritzburg last week.

'I don't know anything about the incident. It is the first time I am hearing about it,' she said.

KwaZulu-Natal Midlands police spokesman Senior Superintendent Henry Budhram confirmed police were investing allegations against Hlatshwayo's bodyguard.

'We have not charged him yet. We are busy with the investigation.'

According to the Witness newspaper report, Gareth Brown, 28, his brother, Lyndon, 26 and Gareth Landsberg, 26, alleged Hlatshwayo's bodyguard 'behaved like a mad man' during the incident.
The paper also reported that the bodyguard had allegedly placed his pistol against Lyndon’s head and shoved Gareth Brown in his chest with his rifle before slapping his face.

The incident allegedly happened last Wednesday. - Sapa

The Mayor is a disgrace for employing these thugs. Another bodyguard of hers was in an accident and it was then discovered he had no drivers licence. She was not aware of that either. Another bodyguard of hers spat in a womans face. The mayor was not aware of that either. She does not seem to be aware of much. No wonder this council is on the verge of collapse.

News - South Africa: Pregnant woman bludgeoned in daylight

News - South Africa: Pregnant woman bludgeoned in daylight: "Pregnant woman bludgeoned in daylight"
Boom Street in Pietermaritzburg, one of the busiest business areas in the CBD, ground to a halt for more than an hour on Monday afternoon after the gruesome death of a young woman.

Fraud case delay

The Witness: "Fraud: number involved in case causes delay"
THE corruption, fraud and money laundering trial of KZN businessman Lucky Moloi, property developer Neville Watts, Msunduzi councillor Themba Zungu, speaker Alpha Shelembe, his wife Joyful Shelembe, uMgungundlovu district Municipality bodyguard Thembinkosi Xaba, and Nelisie Shelembe has been set down for hearing between September 7 and 16 next year in the regional court.

The Witness was told that the reason for the long delay is that the numerous legal representatives involved in the case had to agree on suitable dates for the case to be heard.

Need for civility

The Witness: "Need for civility"
AMONG many other things that concern me about the government, local and national, are the oft-repeated answers to pertinent questions raised by the ratepaying citizens and companies. Take your pick of them: “No reply has yet been received”; “The ... was not available”; “The... was on leave”; “The office was closed”; and plenty more saying the same thing.

The one which is totally inexcusable is the first one. Common courtesy demands an answer of some sort, even if it is only “We can’t give you an answer right now but will get back to you as soon as possible”. Civil servants should understand what that means.

K. KNOTT
Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg



Comments:

Posted by Theo Marx on 18 Aug 2009
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Take Note
Rob Haswell and Pietermaritzburg Councillors please take note, or don't you classify yourselves as civil?

Money-grabbing municipality

The Witness: "Money-grabbing municipality"
THE arrogance of the Msunduzi Municipality knows no bounds. In March, objections to the upward revised second property valuation roll were lodged with no respons­e of any sort to date.

This week, the individual rate assessments were received for payment by Augu­st 31, showing increa­ses of 56% to 72%. This on top of electricity, water and refuse increases.

Where do our councillors think these amounts will be found while the country slides deeper into recession?

While even the central government is trimming its expenses, our municipality aims to double its revenue, presumably to enable even larger salaries to be paid to non-delivering employees.

The fourth Reich is alive and well in our home town.

TONY CHARLTON
Montrose, Pietermaritzburg

Comments:

Posted by Anonymous on 19 Aug 2009
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This entire municipality ought to be fired!! Just fire the lot of them!! They are a bunch of very sick individuals who voted to increase our rates and services bills by such a huge amount. I am a single woman and my monthly bill has been increased by nearly R700 - with the price of food and other essentials what they are today, how am I to survive?! Where do they think I can find an extra R700 every month??!!

Posted by Ant on 19 Aug 2009
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Money-grabbing municipality
Lets have a strike, it seems to be the only way to get the ANC's attention.
We don't have to march and destruct everything, just stop giving them our hard earned money until we get public 'servants' to run our town and get value for it.
We can talk and talk, this is known as trying and nothing ever comes from trying or we can do.

Posted by Ahmed A. Khan on 19 Aug 2009
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This municipality knows no bounds to where the rot ends. Tony is absolutely justifed with his commnets and it is time the ratepayers sued this municipality for wasteful expenditure as well as poor performance. Most ratepayers are reeling from the current increase in rates and to date there has not been a reciprocative increase in service delivery. So where is the justification.

"Electricity tariffs anger local industry"

The Witness: "Electricity tariffs anger local industry"
INDUSTRIALISTS in Pietermaritzburg are outraged at municipal electricity tariffs and, more particularly, at the increases imposed from July 1.

According to the Pietermaritzburg Chamber of Business (PCB), the municipal tariffs are already much higher than those charged by Eskom, and the increases are substantially in excess of the actual increased amounts that the municipality will be paying to Eskom for its bulk purchases of electricity.

Industrialists have warned of an increase in the number of retrenchments because many firms are facing challenges of sustainability.

"Filthy river bank"

The Witness: "Filthy river bank"
18 Aug 2009


LAST Saturday morning I took my dogs for a run at Camps Drift for absolutely the last time. I had stopped taking them there about two months ago because of the filthy state of the area and had switched to the World’s View area, but went to Camps Drift on Saturday because of the Capital Climb. It was not long before one of my dogs was happily munching on a pile of human excrement and another was attempting to roll in it. I leashed them and went home.

The Camps Drift area could be such a beautiful place, but it resembles a rubbish tip with litter, human waste, used condoms and liquor bottles strewn everywhere. The river bank between the bridge and the first weir is no better: the vendors near Makro use the bushes as a toilet and the underside of the bridge is also a public toilet.

I suggest that the municipality fence off access to this area so that it cannot be used at night for drunken parties and prostitution. With the 2010 Football World Cup imminent, I would imagine international visitors may wish to visit this area, the start of the world famous Dusi Canoe Marathon, but there are no toilet facilities in close proximity to the riverbank. We are definitely never going back to Camps Drift. And please don’t walk your dogs in Alexandra Park: it is also full of poo.

KEVIN COCKCROFT

Clarendon, Pietermaritzburg

"Cop jailed for raping teen"

The Witness: "Cop jailed for raping teen"
A FORMER police inspector with the crime prevention unit at Plessislaer, Sikhosiphi Khoza (45) of Sweetwaters, has been sentenced to an effective 10 years in prison for the rape of a 16-year-old girl in 2007.

The court found that the schoolgirl sought Khoza’s help when her ex-boyfriend assaulted and abused her. He assisted her, but later indecently assaulted and raped her.

News - KwaZulu-Natal: Officer held for robbery

News - KwaZulu-Natal: Officer held for robbery: "Officer held for robbery"
A Durban police officer has been arrested after trying to steal a woman's bank card at a Pietermaritzburg shopping centre on Saturday.

Police Superintendent Henry Budhram said the police officer, a constable stationed in Durban, and his accomplice confronted the woman at an ATM at the Polly Shortts shopping complex in Cleland on Saturday afternoon.

"The woman was withdrawing cash when she was approached by two men, who began interfering with the ATM by pressing the keys. The woman's bank card was then removed by the men."

The woman, however, snatched her card back and screamed, attracting the attention of people nearby.

Fire damage

The Witness: "Fire damage"
01 Aug 2009 The Editor
FIRST the Colonial Building, then Harwin’s Arcade. In quick succession, two architecturally and historically significant buildings in the heart of the provincial capital have been gutted by fire. Many may see these calamities as symptomatic of the degradation of Pietermaritzburg’s city centre. In recent years, the townscape has been characterised by litter and neglect, rather than the careful tending that should have been given to Alan Paton’s “lovely city”. No doubt, however, contemporary disdain for the relics of the colonial and apartheid eras is something that the author of Cry, the Beloved Country would have fully understood.

Some good may come of these disasters. In recent times there has been an acknowledgement that if the city is to flourish it must do more to preserve the architectural heritage that gives it its character. Ironically, the Colonial Building fire was sparked during renovations. The realisation of how vulnerable the buildings now are, together with the recognition of both their inherent value and their potential appeal for tourists in 2010 and beyond, may spur on a drive to restore the whole city centre. With government support for a state building, the restoration of the Colonial Building has been promised. The future of privately-owned Harwin’s Arcade is less assured, but it must be hoped that this architectural gem will be properly restored.

Municipal inertia

The Witness: "Municipal inertia"
OUR neighbours go a long way towards keeping Pietermaritzburg neat and tidy. We sweep and weed our gutters (I’ve never seen the municipality do this) and cut and clean our verges. There is commendable co-operation in this initiative.

My problem is the municipal park bounded by Morcom, Jan Hofmeyr and Patrick Duncan roads. Casual visitors use it as a rubbish bin. Building rubble and garden refuse have also been dumped there.

Our first official initiative was written in August 2008. We requested the erection of three “dumping prohibited” signs that would give us the legal right to report offenders to the police. We also wanted three municipal rubbish bins and the assurance that they would be emptied on a weekly basis. Nothing has happened.

As ratepayers, we also expect the regular cutting and removal of grass as in a real park used for walking, running and playing sport. At the moment, there are at least eight piles of branches, but I am informed that Parks and Recreation staff do not have a truck available. Is it true that there is an executive order that the long grass left by the tractor mowers is not to be removed?

Residents of Pietermaritzburg want to help the municipality keep our city clean. What can the municipal manager and his colleagues do to assist this initiative?

TONY CUBBIN
Rushbrook, Pietermaritzburg

Zero tolerance?

The Witness: "Zero tolerance?"
ON Thursday, July 30, I phoned the traffic department wanting to speak to Kenneth Chetty, but someone just put the phone down. Thirty minutes later, I phoned again and was told he was in a meeting and would get back to me.

By the end of the day, I had received no response.

Every morning at Kenilworth Road, law-abiding motorists are severely inconvenienced by inconsiderate taxis and other motorists who don’t bother to join the queue. They just cut across, drive on the oncoming side of the road, go to the front of the queue and dart across traffic coming from Northdale.

The traffic department has, on occasion, done a sting there. Then they disappeared and it all begins again. Then there was a South African Police Services officer who stopped and I think ticketed the transgressors, but he then disappeared too. Now the taxis are back making merry.

I am making an impassioned plea to the traffic department: please assist us law-abiding motorists.

Let’s act and save lives now. This is the province of zero tolerance and 100% compliance, but this is beingseverely compromised.

KRISHNAN NAIDOO
Belfort Estate, Pietermaritzburg

Unnecessary, costly probe

The Witness: "Unnecessary, costly probe"
WHY is it necessary for a probe to be done regarding the municipal funds purportedly used for an ANC election rally? The funds either were or were not used for this purpose and the mayor and city manager should have the decency and honesty to admit misappropriation of funds if this was indeed done. And if so, the ANC should repay the funds to the municipality. Who will pay for this probe? Ratepayers, again, I suppose.

For that matter, why should ratepayers pay for any cultural gatherings? Who benefits? The funds paid by ratepayers are supposed to be used for the maintenance and improvement of the city and, of course, the ridiculous salaries paid to idle councillors.

R. HARLING
Bishoptstowe

Taxi driver ‘drove over man’

The Witness: "Taxi driver ‘drove over man’"
A TAXI conductor told the high court in Pietermaritzburg yesterday how the driver of a taxi he was in deliberately ran over a man at Henley Dam, then alighted, walked over to his victim, and removed his wallet containing R50 one evening in September 2007.

Mlungisi Bhengu was giving evidence for the state at the trial of Sibusiso Derrick Duma (24), who faces 19 counts of murder, rape, kidnapping and robbery with aggravating circumstances arising from five incidents in Pietermaritzburg and Hillcrest in September and October 2007.

Another Colonial Building burned down in Pietermmaritzburg

The Witness: "Fiery farewell to Harwin’s Arcade"
“NOT just a building, but a place where life happened.”

Truely the City of Filth

The Witness: "Plagued by litter"
I LIVE in a “smart” suburb of a provincial capital, about 200 metres from the front gate of the premier’s official residence. My home is opposite a girls’ school, which styles itself as offering “quality education”, and just anothe­r half kilometre away is an exclusive boys’ school, which has marked its elitism with high walls and spiked fencing. Yet, I reside in one of the filthiest neighbourhoods.

"Council backs R200-mln flop"

"Council backs R200-mln flop"
CONTROVERSY surrounds the Msunduzi Municipality’s decision to go ahead with a meter reading system that costs more than R240million and which was ultimately suspended in Port Elizabeth, allegedly because it was problematic.
http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=25161

R1 mln council fund ‘hijack’

06 Jul 2009
Sanelisiwe Shamase
HIGH-RANKING officials of the Msunduzi Municipality are set to be investigated after being implicatedin an alleged scam in which they apparently misappropriated more than R1 million in council funds.
The Witness has evidence that municipal manager Rob Haswell, speaker Alpha Shelembe and deputy municipal manager for finance Roy Bridgmohan allegedly by-passed the municipality’s proper procurement process in order to secure R1067119 to finance an African National Congress rally in January.

According to sources, Haswell, Shelembe and Bridgmohan were approached by the regional ANC and asked to help raise funds for an ANC provincial rally that was set to take place on January 18.

Instead of embarking on fund-raising ventures, the sources allege, the three conspired to obtain the funds from the municipality.

Shelembe was given the task of engineering requests for a cultural event called “the Nkosi Mlaba Cultural Day” to be used as a cover, the sources said.

This event was scheduled to take place on January 18, but the authorised payments for the event were allegedly obtained only on January 19.

As far as The Witness can establish, there is no evidence to prove that the cultural event actually took place.

A booking sheet for The Oval, where this event was meant to take place, states that this venue had been booked on January 18 for use by the Midlands Cricket Association.

However, another significant event did occur on January 18 — the ANC provincial rally at Qokololo Stadium in Edendale. It was attended by more than 50?000 people, including national Human Settlement Minister Tokyo Sexwale.

A firm was allegedly paid R497?860 to provide sound, tables, chairs, marquees and a stage at the rally, while another firm was allegedly paid R569?259 for T-shirts, caps, calendars, diaries and paper bags. The total is R1?067?119.

The payment form, which The Witness has in its possession, shows quotes allegedly obtained by Shelembe’s personal assistant, Hazel Xolo, the manager in Shelembe’s office, Nondumiso Hlela, and Haswell.

Bridgmohan allegedly counter-signed the documents, but the absence of the signature of head of procurement Francis Grantham raises questions.

DA MP Mark Steele said that acco­rding to supply chain management regulations, any tenders of significant amount first have to be evaluated by the bid-adjudication committee before being signed by Grantham. Without this, they are not valid, he said.

Steele said another important regulation is that should funds over R1 million be required, council resolution is needed for their authorisation. Should there be no council resolution, then funds cannot be authorised, he said.

IFP councillor and executive committee (Exco) member Dolo Zondi said he did not remember any council resolution about this matter.

“It has never been to council. If this is true then it will put our municipality in a terrible situation. It’s the first I’ve heard of it but I will be investigating it,” he said.

Msunduzi Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo said she had seen the documents and according to her knowledge no council resolution was passed. She said she would take the documents to council and the issue would be investigated further.

Haswell said he could not comment until he had seen the documents. When The Witness offered to forward the documents to him, he declined.

“The onus is on the DA to forward them to me,” he said.

Shelembe and Hlela failed to respond to voice mail messages asking them to contact The Witness and Bridgmohan could not be reached as his phone was switched off.

DA spokesman Frits de Klerk called for the matter to be investigated immediately.

“Those found guilty should be dismissed from office and the ANC should return the money to the municipality. I am meeting with the auditor-general this week to put the matter before him and to ask that a full investigation take place,” he said.

KZN Local Government and Traditional Affairs MEC Willies Mchunu said the matter was brought to his attention at an ANC press briefing last night.

“The premier and the ANC government are committed in investigating the matter and if there’s any wrongdoing, punitive steps will be taken,” he said. He said he would make sure that he got a hold of the relevant documents this week and proceed from there.

The Witness attempted to elicit reaction from the following people yesterday. This was the outcome:

Msunduzi Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo - full comment given.

Speaker Alpha Shelembe - failed to contact The Witness by the time of going to print even though messages were left on his phone.

Dolo Zondi (IFP councillor and Exco member) - full comment given.

Roy Bridgmohan (deputy municipal manager for finance) - phone switched off with no option to leave a message.

Nondumiso Hlela (manager in speaker’s office) - did not respond to voice mail messages asking her to contact The Witness.

Rob Haswell (municipal manager) - he told The Witness he would only comment once the DA had sent him the documents.

Willies Mchunu (KZN Local Government and Traditional Affairs MEC) - full comment given.

DA MP Mark Steele - full comment given.

DA spokesman Frits de Klerk - full comment given.

Rates Insensitivity

THE latest supplementary rates valuation roll published recently by the Msunduzi Municipality is a shocking piece of administrative work. Contractors were paid vast sums of money to produce this millennium masterpiece. Values of properties have changed drastically from previous valuation rolls, without even a single household visit by these incompetent evaluators.

Values of some homes and industries have varied from millions of rands to well below their market values, and have increased again to way above those in the initial valuations. I beg an answer from the valuation company to explain these large anomalies and request the methodology they used to establish the values of homes, especially in the northern areas.

The municipality, city mayor and her band of merry men must be held accountable by the ratepayers for not having scrutinised the process of valuation before establishing the rates income in the city budget in the region of R430 million. They are hellbent on destroying this city and plunging it into the depths of despair, with potentially crippling closures of industries. Many are contemplating relocation in order to reduce costs.

Very soon the recession will bite deeper and those who become unemployed will have to sell their homes. This will impact severely on poverty in our city. There has already been an exodus of large companies and it is a fact that other municipalities are far more sensitive to their ratepayers and are intent on ensuring a safe passage during the recession facing us.

It is time that the provincial premier intervened or set up an inquiry into the rates fiasco and the financial state of affairs of the capital which is slowly being poisoned by its management.

AHMED A. KHAN
Belfort, Pietermaritzburg

Video of the recent fire fiasco in Pietermaritzburg

Questions over metro status

17 Jun 2009


THE municipal manager and the city council must be living in a world of their own believing that this city is worthy of, or can attain, metropolitan status. Recent frightening events indicate that its managers are absolutely incapable of running an ordinary city, let alone a metropolitan one.

The latest fiasco at the Colonial Building with inadequate firefighting vehicles and equipment confirms that it cannot protect its citizens properly. One wonders what the end result would have been if it had been a fire in a high building such as Park Avenue with many people trapped by flames and smoke attended by such an inefficient fire and rescue services department?

The short-staffed and equally inefficient traffic department is another essential service department but it is receiving regular complaints from the community about poor traffic management and assistance with the free flow of traffic in the city: so much so that the provincial road traffic inspectorate has to step in and set up roadblocks to deal with inebriated motorists.

Add to these the refuse removal, electricity and water departments with their problems and we have an abominable situation far removed from a city to be proud of, or a capital city worth boasting about. Metropolitan status? You’ve got to be kidding.

JAMES MILLS
Pelha, Pietermaritzburg

Fire damage

Comment by the Editor, The Witness, 16 june 2009 on the devastating fire and the inability of the ill equipped fire department to save a colonial icon in Pietermaritzburg.


IT is ironic that only two weeks after The Witness published as its leading story an exposé of the inadequacies of the city’s firefighting capacity, Pietermaritzburg should have been afflicted by the worst fire disaster since its city hall burnt to the ground in 1898. It is doubly ironic that it could well have been restoration work on the Colonial Building, which has been disgracefully neglected for many years, which quite literally, sparked the inferno. A further irony is that on the very day of the fire, a correspondent to this paper pointed out that the Lion’s River Fire Protection Association is better equipped than Msunduzi.

In terms of the loss of architectural heritage, Friday’s fire is in the same tragic league as that of 1898. Fortunately, not being a “working” building, there was no equivalent loss of priceless records as was the case when the first city hall burnt down. But what if it had been the current city hall? Or Natalia? Or the deeds office? Or the master’s office? Mercifully, too, the fire broke out on a calm and windless day. What might have happened had there been a hot, howling berg wind blowing is a prospect too ghastly to contemplate. Everything downwind ­— the old Presbyterian Church across the road, the master’s office, the Tatham Art Gallery, the complex of parliamentary buildings, perhaps even the Natal Museum and the Imperial Hotel — could have been consumed in an appalling and unstoppable fire storm which would have torn the very heart out of the city.

Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo declares herself “deeply disturbed”. Two weeks ago the city fathers declared that they were unaware of the parlous state of our fighfighting capacity. They certainly know now. One hopes that disturbance at the highest levels will immediately translate into vigorous action further down the chain of command. The obvious shortcomings in our ability to fight fires must be rectified with all possible speed — lack of pressure in the fire hydrants, leaky hoses, defective fire engines, uncertain command arrangements in a time of crisis — to ensure that nothing similar can take place and the damage of future fires can be mitigated.

Whether the Colonial Building can ever be restored to its former glory remains to be seen. Let us hope it can, although Pietermaritzburg in 2009 does not contain anything like the pool of building and masonry skills that it had in 1898. The least that can be done, however, is to fix that which can be fixed.

Fire-fighting fiasco

THE Msunduzi Municipality fire-fighters were unable to quell flames that gutted the Colonial Building in Church Street yesterday because their equipment was below standard.

Flaming Shame

Flaming shame
A HUGE blaze gutted Pietermaritzburg’s iconic 109-year-old Colonial Building in the CBD yesterday.
http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=23987

Exco hear of fire engine saga through ‘Witness’

MEMBERS of the Executive Committee (Exco) at Msunduzi Municipality have lambasted fire department officials and management for bringing the council into disrepute by failing to upgrade the firefighting fleet.
http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global[_id]=23786

Exco has certainly shown us how pathetic they are. Zanele Hlatshwyo, the sprendthrift mayor is too busy waisting ratepayers money on irrelevant projects like imbizos and youth day concerts. How is it possible that EXCO does not know what is going on in the Council they are suppose to manage. It is time the ANC sort out these pathetic, uneducated rate wasters.

Take off those blinkers

AS “out of towners”, we have spent a good few hours wandering round the streets of the capital of KwaZulu-Natal waiting for our car to be repaired.

We have been apalled by the litter on the streets and in the gutters, and that so many manhole covers are missing. Even in the city centre, broken concrete litter bins are left lying on the pavement.

When will we see the city being cleaned up and maintained? We’re so tired of inertia. How about some integrity?

There are many men who congregate at the corner of Greyling and Boshoff streets looking for work. Perhaps they would be prepared to clean the streets if given a decent wage.

We were warned not to walk anywhere near the Selgro Centre as it is dangerous. Having driven past that area, we have never noticed a police presence there.

Come Ms Mayor, you and your councillors need to stop walking around with blinkers on, get off the gravy train and start giving the citizens of Pietermaritzburg some service.

After all, the buck has to stop somewhere, why not with you?

SHEILA MILLER Nottingham Road

Msunduzi fire engine crisis

The Witness: "Msunduzi fire engine crisis"
IF YOU thought the Msunduzi Municipality fire department would rescue your family in case of fire, or save your property from being gutted by fire, think again.

Most of the fire engines in the municipality are more than 20 years old and are beset by faults, which the fire-fighters have alleged the municipality is not taking seriously.

The fire-fighters, who spoke to The Witness on condition of anonymity, alleged that of about 11 fire engines, only two are in good working condition.

Guard injured in robbery

A security guard responding to a house robbery was shot and seriously hurt in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday, KwaZulu-Natal police said.

Senior Superintendent Henry Budhram said the police received a report of a shooting at French Road in Pelham at 9.30am.

The Witness

The Witness: "Lack of maintenance"

Lack of maintenance

The Witness: "Lack of maintenance"
THE statement by the municipal electricity department that it inherited aging infrastructure needs questioning.

If it was old and frail when inherited, just what has been done in the past 15 years to rejuvenate it? From where we sit (usually in the dark) it seems that the only action taken was to allow massive developement, but with no corresponding system expansion, let alone upgrading the existing network.

As for the lack of engineers, perhaps we should try a recruitment drive in Australia, Britain and all the other countries the engineers moved to when affirmative action kicked in.

S. HARLING
Bishopstowe

Wreckage of affirmative action

The Witness: "Wreckage of affirmative action"
AFFIRMATIVE action at any cost is wreaking havoc with all sectors of Msunduzi Municipality and Phil Mashoko seems surprised that qualified engineers and other qualified staff don’t apply for jobs with the council.

They know that they can never get to the top if they are white, unless they are African National Congress supporters. How many qualified white electricians were given packages in order to make way for affirmative action appointments? I personally know of quite a few. Their lives were made miserable until they eventually took their packages, even though they would rather have stayed until reaching pensionable age.

A. D. WITHEY
Pietermaritzburg

Power supply

The Witness: "Power supply"
Power supply
19 May 2009


THE ongoing woes of city residents, afflicted by failure after failure in their electricity supply, is, one hopes, not a foretaste of wider breakdowns.

While a shortage of electricians is a widespread phenomenon following the collapse of the old apprenticeship sytem, consumers are unlikely to buy the excuse that the current administration inherited a “poorly maintained network”. The network was not “always poorly maintained”. It is now, that crisis management has become a substitute for routine maintenance and upgrading.

The city fathers and senior municipal management cannot escape censure for the current parlous state of the electicity network. A regular and reliable supply of electricity is the very lifeblood of the city and must be prioritised as such. What shall it profit to build new roads here or new houses there if the entire municipal economy collapses due to the lack of electricity?

One cannot operate on good intentions. What is needed is good management and the maintenance of the electricity supply, whatever it might cost in terms of new equipment or paying competitive salaries to acquire good staff.

The Editor
The Witness

Municipality's unpaid bills are delaying refuse collection

The Witness: "Municipality's unpaid bills are delaying refuse collection"

THE Msunduzi Municipality’s failure to settle their petrol and diesel accounts on time resulted in the disruption of basic services such as refuse collection in some parts of the city yesterday.

The Witness has learnt that the fleet management division tasked with the payment of these accounts failed to pay them on time. Some municipal vehicles and refuse trucks could not perform their duties as their petrol and diesel tanks were empty.

Sources who requested anonymity told The Witness that municipal staff were given strict instructions not to reveal the reasons behind the late removal of household refuse.

Mugging: samaritan steps in to stop men attacking St Charles teacher

The Witness: "Mugging: samaritan steps in to stop men attacking St Charles teacher"
A PRIVATE school teacher is nursing his wounds after he was attacked by muggers who wanted his running shoes while he was jogging in Oribi. St Charles College grade six teacher Shaun Mayo suffered a fractured upper jaw, a broken nose and a bruise to the back of his head — but if it wasn’t for a good samaritan, things might have been worse.

Woman shot during botched hijacking

Mercury: "Woman shot during botched hijacking"
By Mercury reporter

A woman was shot and wounded in her hand during a botched hijacking in Scottsville, Pietermaritzburg, on Saturday night.

34 drunk drivers caught

The Witness: "34 drunk drivers caught"
THIRTY-FOUR drivers were arrested for drinking and driving during a roving roadblock conducted by the Road Traffic Inspectorate (RTI) in the Pietermaritzburg CBD over the weekend.

Transport spokeswoman Zinhle Mngomezulu said eight of the drivers were minibus taxi drivers and will all appear in the Pietermaritzburg Magistrate’s Court today.

No skills, no power in PMB

The Witness: "No skills, no power in PMB"
A LIMITED budget, inheriting a poorly maintained network and a critical shortage of skilled engineers have been cited as the main reasons behind Msunduzi Municipality’s inconsistent electricity supply.

As residents battle with erratic blackouts, deputy municipal manager for infrastructure, services and facilities Phil Mashoko says the skills shortage has had an adverse effect on the municipality’s electricity department.In 1998, the municipality had nine qualified engineers at their disposal. Today there’s only one.

Nowhere does he mention the employment policies(affirmative action) nor the total incompetence and illiteracy of the staff in general or the people making decisions(including himself) in the council. The ANC Council was also solely responsible for the lack of maintenance of the system , like with everything else in Pietermaritzburg. The ANC was to eager too eager to waste money on calenders, posters, name changes and getting rid of qualified white staff. Now that the shit hit the fan , they suddenly realise you cannot just live for today - what the ratepayers have been telling them for the last 15 years.

Dusi Canoe Marathon

Cape Argus: "Murky truth about the Dusi"
Pietermaritzburg's municipal authorities and the department of water affairs and forestry (DWAF) are not coming clean on the city's sewer system failures that have resulted in vast amounts of raw sewage spilling into the Msunduzi River.

This is revealed in documents leaked to the Sunday Tribune, including results of water quality monitoring by Umgeni Water and associated correspondence in the wake of the Hansa Powerade Dusi Canoe Marathon.

Outsourced Municipal Debt Collectors Profit From The Poor, Pietermaritzburg. : IMC-SA

Outsourced Municipal Debt Collectors Profit From The Poor, Pietermaritzburg. : IMC-SA: "Outsourced Municipal Debt Collectors Profit From The Poor, Pietermaritzburg."
The Eastwood Community Forum is extremely disturbed regarding The Witness
exposé on ANC luminaries who were awarded the lucrative Msunduzi municipal
debt collection contract as directors within the two municipal debt
collection consortia: MV Municipal Credit Management Consortium and
Bambanani Joint Venture [The Witness: Cashing in on council debt, dated 13
September].

Outrage over lucrative tender

Mercury: "Outrage over lucrative tender"
Opposition political parties have reacted with shock to news that the disgraced former head of the agriculture and environmental affairs department, Jabulani Mjwara, could be awarded a multimillion-rand contract by the Msunduzi Municipality.

Mjwara left the agriculture department last year after a damning report into the mismanagement of finances which cost taxpayers well over R120-million.

Taxi driver hijacked, beaten, dumped

The Witness: "Taxi driver hijacked, beaten, dumped"

Caught on camera, the bold crook who stole a car

The Witness: "Caught on camera, the bold crook who stole a car"
CAMERA footage at a local car dealership shows how a man simply walked into their yard and drove out in a car worth R250 000 yesterday afternoon — no paperwork, no payment.

News - South Africa: Teenager jailed for rape

News - South Africa: Teenager jailed for rape: "Teenager jailed for rape"
A 16-year-old Howick rapist was jailed for 15 years by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to three rapes.

Roads to business closed

The roads to Polly Shorts business area was closed today till 11h30 by our very brilliant Council for a fun run, thus preventing Employers and workers alike to reach their place of work. No notice were given to employers about the road closure. This in times of businesses running out of options to survive the economic climate and the record unemployment rate.

When I phoned the Traffic Department they were blisfully unaware that the roads were closed, but after 5 minutes of phoning around they managed to established that somebody allow a fun run to take place and preventing businesses in the Polly Shorts area to trade.

We had previously complained to the very same traffic Department for its indiscriminate closure of roads and were promised it is a serious matter which should be investigated. Well, what did they investigate? Did they all unanimously decided they don't need our business in pietermaritzburg and they would make business operation for small business as difficult as possible and thereby send more small business out of business.

This coucil is proof that the living dead is employed by it but complaining to the Municipal Manager or the Mayor is like flogging a dead horse. They are just interested in the millions they rake in for themselves every year and a attitude of f...the ratepayers and business (unless offcourse it appears, if you are prepared to do a bit on the side in their favour).

Anyone who choose to have a fun run before considering businesses and their current situation must be stark raving mad.

"When will electricity be fixed?"

The Witness: "When will electricity be fixed?"

RESIDENTS in and around the Hilton area suffered further power outages on Tuesday when a secondary transformer at the Crossways sub-station burnt out once again.

Arrogant disdain

The Witness: "Arrogant disdain"
I REFER to the claim by film director Andrew Strackham (The Witness, April 30) that notification of road closure had been circulated to residents in Roberts Road: what rubbish.

Traffic volumes in Roberts Road are phenomenal at the best of times and this street is not used only by local residents, but serves as an access route into town for a vast number of people, including many from Hilton, Howick and Merrivale. Bear in mind that many parents first take their children to the numerous schools in the vicinity before proceeding to work.

The total apathy by the municipality in notifying the public timeously and planning appropriately, shows a complete disregard for the public and is further proof of its arrogance.
CLIFF WIGGILL

Not a lot to ask

The Witness: "Not a lot to ask"
THERE is one thing the city manager and other officials do not seem to realise — they are paid handsome salaries to manage this city.

Farmer’s killers get life terms

The Witness: "Farmer’s killers get life terms"
Two casual workers who murdered Cramond farmer Ezrah Podolski, and assaulted and robbed Podolski’s wife, Miriam, and the couple’s domestic worker, Gloria Ngidi, on September 5, 2006, were each jailed for life plus 20 years by high court Judge Gregory Kruger.

Kruger commented during the sentencing that the minimum sentences were promulgated with the aim of helping to reduce crimes of this nature. This clearly has not happened since the jails are “overflowing”, he said.

Retrenchments: Reality sets in

The Witness: "Retrenchments: Reality sets in"
Although it is clearly a difficult topic to discuss in public, retrenchments in Pietermaritzburg have undoubtedly taken hold across many of the city’s main sectors.

Man hands over keys, but hijackers shoot him

The Witness: "Man hands over keys, but hijackers shoot him"
HE was forced out of his car at gunpoint and handed over his keys.

But this did not stop Bongani Nxumalo’s assailants from shooting him in the head.

Nxumalo (40) is fighting for his life in hospital after being robbed of his Toyota Corolla on Wednesday evening, while parked at a bus shelter along the Imbali Main Road in Unit AA, just a day after a Toyota Yaris was hijacked in Richmond Crest.

Council writes off R100 mln - AGAIN

The Witness: "Council writes off R100 mln"
Msunduzi councillors voted to write off debt of more than R100 million at a special full council meeting on Wednesday.

The write-off of irrecoverable debts amounts to just more than R293 million in two years. In August 2006, the municipality approved the write-off of R184 million in arrears and this week R109,6 million was written off.

Blog: Cleaning up the streets of Maritzburg

The Witness: "Blog: Cleaning up the streets of Maritzburg"
“Helping Rob with the job”

IFP Moves Motion of No Confidence in PMB Mayor

IFP Moves Motion of No Confidence in PMB Mayor: "IFP Moves Motion of No Confidence in PMB Mayor"
25 March 2009

The IFP in the uMsunduzi Municipality today moved a motion of no confidence in ANC Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo citing her extravagant expenditure on pet projects and her refusal to account for a recent costly trip to America.

"Mayor Hlatshwayo's extravagant spending on mayoral projects to the tune of R7-million has not only doubled the relevant budget but also exhausted the new figure by mid-year," said IFP Councillor Candy Seymour.

The IFP presented the Council with a long list of Mayor Hlatshwayo's transgressions such as R1.5-million spent on last year's Christmas party for the elderly attended by less than one thousand people. "This is beyond acceptance, particularly when we cannot clean the city (Pietermaritzburg), fix potholes and street lights," said Cllr Seymour.

The IFP also expressed outrage about the cost, size of the delegation and the rationale behind the Mayor's trip to the US to attend, among other things, the inauguration of President Barack Obama in January this year. "The trip appeared to be a little more than a luxury holiday for pals," said Cllr Seymour.

The Witness: Sick settlers suffer as landowner cuts water | Abahlali baseMjondolo

The Witness: Sick settlers suffer as landowner cuts water | Abahlali baseMjondolo: "sakha | Thando Mgaga | The Witness | water
Sick settlers suffer as landowner cuts water"
Residents of Sakha informal settlement in Mkondeni are up in arms with
Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo and their ward 37 councillor, Sandy Lyne, over
the slow pace of service delivery to the poor community

IFP Has No Plan To Move KZN Capital City

IFP Has No Plan To Move KZN Capital City: "MEDIA STATEMENT BY THE
INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY"
Having grossly mismanaged Pietermaritzburg as the ruling party in both Msunduzi local municipality and uMgungundlovu district municipality...

"With Msunduzi Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo and former uMgungundlovu District Mayor Bongi Sithole now firmly entrenched as political liabilities....

after five years of ANC misrule, KwaZulu Natal's immediate challenges such as poverty, health, education, crime and corruption are more burning than ever

Armed Robbery

The Witness: "Merchandise over R90 000 stolen in armed robbery"
MORE than R90 000 worth of cellphones and airtime was stolen during an armed robbery from a business at the Selgro Centre in the Pietermaritzburg city centre yesterday morning.

Municipal staff caught stealing diesel

The Witness: "Municipal staff caught stealing diesel"
Two Msunduzi Municipality employees and a taxi driver were arrested and appeared in court this week for allegedly siphoning diesel from municipal rubbish trucks and selling the fuel to taxi drivers in the greater Edendale area.

Joseph Mfuphi (57), Nhlanhla Ngidi (49) and Kena Shelembe (53) were arrested by the Pietermaritzburg organised crime unit on Sunday.

Msunduzi ratepayers footed the bill for ANC victory bash

The Witness: "Mayor denies Msunduzi ratepayers footed the bill for ANC victory bash"
Celebrations and a joyous mood over the ANC’s victory following Wednesday’s elections were the order of the day in many parts of the country yesterday and Pietermaritzburg was no different.

However, the local bash was allegedly sponsored by Msunduzi Municipality ratepayers’ money.

Well, the ANC is known as a corrupt party, so maybe this matter should be investigated as a matter of urgency. Where there is smoke, there is fire.

Prison official attacks man

The Witness: "Boss at New Prison attacked me, says motorist"
A prison boss at New Prison allegedly assaulted a Napierville motorist after a near accident on Friday evening.

Alec Johannes told The Witness that the prison official and a security guard at the New Prison attacked him after he confronted the official, who allegedly pushed him off the road.

Outcry over walker’s death

The Witness: "Outcry over walker’s death"
THERE has been a public outcry about the safety of pedestrians in Pietermaritzburg following the death of a 61-year-old woman, Kantharuby Reddy, who was hit and dragged by a car on Manning Avenue on Tuesday while out on a health walk.

Collapse of PMB Health Services

The Witness: "What the cut in interns will mean for PMB hospitals — seven consequences"
An attachment to the Sama letter, sent to Health MEC Peggy Nkonyeni earlier this month, sets out the following consequences of reducing intern numbers:

Collapsw of Health Services

The Witness: "Plan for fewer frontline doctors"
OVERBURDENED state hospitals in KwaZulu-Natal, already struggling to meet the overwhelming demand for health services, will be hobbled even further if a plan to reduce the number of interns allocated to provincial hospitals in 2010 goes ahead.

Cleaning up the streets of Maritzburg

The Witness: "Blog: Cleaning up the streets of Maritzburg"
My phone rang. It was the Hultz. He said he was fed up with the state of the streets of Maritzburg.

I knew exactly what he was talking about. This website is full of comments from people around the world who have visited Maritzburg who can’t believe how filthy the city has become… there are gutters and pavements piled with litter, and some verges that haven’t been maintained since the early 19th century.

Lack of maintenance

The Witness: "Lack of maintenance"
THE African National Congress’s 2007/08 capital budget for Msunduzi- Pietermaritzburg allocated over R110 million to the construction of 10 roads in Edendale and Vulindlela. This left very little over in the capital budget (totalling approximately R120 million and increased to R150 million) for any other projects. It is why we have no tractors cutting parks or urgent repairs to the city’s water and road networks.

Ashburton woes continue

The Witness: "Ashburton woes continue"
THANK you to The Witness for publishing my letter (The Witness, January 20) regarding my water account. It took only a week before I was refunded, with all the interest paid back, so let us hope that this letter will bring some response again from the municipality regarding inconsistencies in rates valuations.

Senior officer's son sentenced for taking and crashing two cop vehicles

The Witness: "Senior officer's son sentenced for taking and crashing two cop vehicles"

The son of a police station commissioner in Pietermaritzburg has entered into a plea agreement with the state over his illegal use of state vehicles — both of which were involved in accidents — in June 2007 and in May last year.

Siphakamiso Muziwavuka Gcumisa (20) was a student constable when the offences were committed.

Opposition irritated as Mervyn Dirks cancels Exco meeting

The Witness: "Opposition irritated as Mervyn Dirks cancels Exco meeting"

Msunduzi Deputy Mayor Mervyn Dirks, who was chairing the council’s finance committee and the executive committee (Exco) meeting yesterday, cancelled both meetings when finance division officials failed to arrive.

The decision to cancel the meetings infuriated the opposition parties, the DA and the IFP, who accused the ANC of arrogance.

Man stabbed after tackling CBD mugger

The Witness: "Man stabbed after tackling CBD mugger"
A MAN trying to save a teenage boy from being robbed of his cellphone was stabbed four times at the weekend.

Residents step up valuation roll protest

The Witness: "Residents step up valuation roll protest"
Disgruntled residents are stepping up their action to protest against Msunduzi Municipality’s latest valuation roll.

Angry residents ambush councillor over water

The Witness: "Angry residents ambush councillor over water"
Msunduzi ward councillor Dolo Zondi was ambushed while driving his children to school yesterday morning by angry community members who have had no water for the past four weeks.

Woman found dead in toilet

The Witness: "Woman found dead in toilet"

Mystery surrounds the discovery of the unidentified, battered body of a young Indian woman that was found in a toilet in the city centre yesterday.

Two cops arrested

The Witness: "Two cops arrested for helping ‘most wanted’ fraudster escape"
TWO policemen were arrested in Pietermaritzburg yesterday in connection with the escape of KwaZulu-Natal’s most wanted fraudster, Sipho Sthembiso Msomi, in December last year.

Imbali shooting: mystery of man found dead

The Witness: "Imbali shooting: mystery of man found dead on B&B premises"
The body of an unidentified man with a single gunshot wound to the head was found on the premises of an Imbali bed-and-breakfast yesterday morning.

A passer-by found the body of the unknown man lying lifeless about 100 m from the rooms. Police suspect he was murdered on the premises the night before .

Traffic officers down tools

The Witness: "Traffic officers down tools"
Msunduzi Municipality traffic officers downed tools yesterday and refused to go back to work until they were addressed by management.

The traffic officers blocked the entrance to the municipality’s traffic headquarters in Washington Road, denying access to city residents who wanted to pay their fines.

PMB prof killed at home

The Witness: "PMB prof killed at home"
RETIRED KwaZulu-Natal professor Samuel Jotham Zondi (71) was tortured and killed in his Pietermaritzburg flat on Wednesday last week.

His body — gagged, with hands bound behind him and burnt — was found in his flat at Moyra Mansions, Alexandra Road, on Friday evening.

Cost-cutting suggestion

The Witness: "Cost-cutting suggestion"
SO it seems that the Msunduzi Municipality is on a cost-cutting drive, which is definitely a positive step.

I have a suggestion that could help with this initiative. I suggest that a satisfaction survey is included with the next rates or electricity account in which the citizens of Pietermaritzburg (the ones the municipality are there to serve) are invited to have their say and to rate the various departments of the municipality. If the municipal manager is brave enough he could even include a category for himself.

If departments score below a certain level overall then there can be major cost cutting: it is bizarre to pay people if they are not doing the jobs they are paid to do and it doesn’t make very good business sense. Rather stop paying their salaries or fire them and employ people who are committed to do the job. It is time for the municipality to see just how people are feeling and for it to do everything in its power to make Pietermaritzburg a city of choice again.

SAMANTHA HART
Bisley, Pietermaritzburg

Three killed in 'taxi hit'

The Witness: "Three killed in 'taxi hit'"
Early morning commuters and people waiting for a local doctor to open his surgery fled in terror as unknown gunmen opened fire on three men in Church Street early yesterday morning.

All three died in the incident believed to be linked to the ongoing taxi route conflict in the Pietermaritzburg Long Distance Taxi Association (LDTA).

Neglecting their duty

The Witness: "Neglecting their duty"
HOW can one think that the ruling party is serious about education when, barely two weeks after the start of the new school year, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) held a meeting in the Pietermaritzburg City Hall, attended by over 800 teachers during school hours, to urge them to vote for the African National Congress?

No more private security

The Witness: "'No more private security'"
MSUNDUZI municipality executive council (Exco) members entitled to VIP protection will now have to provide their own security when attending private functions, effective from yesterday.

This is part of the action plan unveiled by Msunduzi Municipality municipal manager Rob Haswell and approved by Exco yesterday, to control over-expenditure of R33 million.

Action needed

The Witness: "Action needed"
IT must be two years or more that the Boughton bridge has supposedly been undergoing repairs. Do you think 2009 will see the start, let alone completion? The red tape surrounding the area has long since become threadbare and untidy, and traffic is still being diverted around the area without any sign of workmen or machinery. A lot of time and money was spent in planting the banks with grass and other plants, but do we have to wait for the bridge to collapse and for someone to be injured before something is done?

The old building in College Road, opposite Maritzburg College, has been taken over by vandals and the trees destroyed by fire. This would be an ideal building to convert to a restaurant with rolling lawns down to the Duzi, but instead it is fast becoming a slum area. What are the plans for this building? Does anyone care?

Boy shot dead in classroom

The Witness: "Boy shot dead in classroom"
A grade 8 pupil who brought a gun to school to show off was accidentally shot and killed by a 15-year-old friend inside their classroom at a school in Imbali yesterday morning.

A bullet hit Sphamandla Dlamini-Hlubi (15) in the forehead, killing him instantly in front of 45 classmates Zamazulu Secondary.

Litterbug policeman

The Witness: "Litterbug policeman"
EARLY one morning in January, at the junction of the N3 south-bound off ramp and Peter Brown Drive, I noted a member of the South African Police Service in uniform disposing of what appeared to be household refuse over the steel barrier.

Regrettably, I did not get the full registration number, but the vehicle was a red saloon. If any of his colleagues with whom he works can identify him, I would suggest he receives some urgent counselling.

Shameless boldness

The Witness: "Shameless boldness"
YET again the African National Congress has had the effrontery to totally disregard the city’s bylaws and national acts of Parliament regarding historical monuments by placing posters on walls at taxi ranks and other buildings, and on the perimeter walls of old Government House, which now houses Unisa.

Dump managers

The Witness: "Dump managers"
Yet again the mess at Pietermaritzburg’s Woodhouse Road landfill site has caught the headlines. The memory that this was once rated among the best such facilities in the country is starting to fade and it is instead becoming a perpetual embarrassment. With landfill staff on strike last week and all manner of rubbish being dumped on the approach road, the situation threatens also to become a serious environmental and health hazard.

Dragged to her death

The Witness: "Dragged to her death"
Woman out walking for health dies after 'unlicensed' diver hits her.

A 61-year-old walker died after she was hit by a car believed to be driven by a 47-year-old unlicensed driver in Mountain Rise yesterday morning.

Pupil dies in ‘drug attack’

The Witness: "Pupil dies in ‘drug attack’"
A 17-year-old pupil died in his sister’s arms after he was stabbed to death in front of his schoolmates at Amakholwa High School in the Sinathing area of Edendale yesterday.

Convoy bully spat at woman

The Witness: "Convoy bully spat at woman"
A woman is on anti-retroviral medication (ARVs) after the Msunduzi mayor’s blue light bodyguard spat in her face during a confrontation on the N3.

Camperdown police have opened a case of intimidation and crimen injuria after Kathleen Drummond was allegedly harassed, forced on to the side of the road and spat on twice near the Mbumbulu off-ramp on the N3 by two bodyguards attached to Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo’s VIP protection unit.

Security Overtime Shock

The Witness: "Security overtime shock"
A security guard in the Msunduzi Municipality is earning R20 000 a month in overtime alone.

The IFP late yesterday released details of a salary slip it has in its possession that shows that the monthly net salary of the security officer, whose name it is withholding, is R24 358,54.

According to the payslip, he earned a salary of R11 564,77 and overtime of R20 396,50.

Traffic Laws

The Witness: "Traffic laws
27 Mar 2009"
The Editor

DRIVING on the roads of Pietermaritzburg is hazardous and unpleasant. A growing minority of drivers shows scant regard for other vehicles, barging into queues, jumping red traffic lights, exceeding the speed limit and failing to observe a safe following distance.

Law-abiding motorists will have watched recent coverage of the activity of Johannesburg’s metro police with fascination. The true meaning of zero-tolerance towards traffic violations has become very clear: offending drivers have been arrested on the spot and their vehicles towed away and impounded. Many of them, predictably, have been taxis.

Johannesburg’s police were recently placed under new management and a fresh and uncompromising broom is obviously at work. Reckless disregard for the rules of the road can mean the difference between life and death.

Is it too much to hope that such determination to root out dangerous driving might yet be applied to the streets of the City of Choice?

Blackouts

The Witness: "Blackouts
26 Mar 2009"
The Editor

Once again a significant portion of Pietermaritzburg has experienced a breakdown in the supply of electricity. It has been described by Andrew Layman of the city's Chamber of Business as "devastating" in its effects. This applies to homeowners, as well as to commercial enterprises.

The breakdown has fuelled fresh anxiety about serious problems with this and other infrastructural aspects of the municipality. This is justified by the comment by Phil Mashoko, deputy municipal manager for infrastructure services, to the effect that the current restoration of supply is operating at 50% risk, meaning that if it collapses again there is nothing else to lean on as a standby.

It is becoming increasingly clear that piecemeal repairs are no real solution. What is needed is a major overhaul and renewal in a fundamental way. The extension of services to areas which have not been provided for previously - a policy highly commendable in itself - has occurred while existing ageing facilities have been badly neglected. The result is a crazy mixture of new provision alongside major degradation.

The Msunduzi Municipality has been experiencing at a micro level what the nation as a whole has discovered with Eskom. At least with Eskom, while the same kind of piecemeal tinkering continues, there is a longer-term plan in place for additional facilities that will improve and stabilise supply. The local scene cries out for a similar plan, and the funding and human expertise for it need to be urgently found.

Raelin's murder: Facebook group calls for death penalty

The Witness: "Raelin's murder: Facebook group calls for death penalty
27 Mar 2009"
A Facebook group requesting the reinstatement of the death penalty for the murder of six-year-old Raelin Devnarain has attracted more than 5 300 users in 11 days and is continuing to grow rapidly.

The online group, which was started on March 16, has rapidly gained momentum without much assistance from its creator, Litishia Govender.

Govender has just 168 friends on Facebook, while yesterday the group’s membership tally was up to 5 331.

‘We killed Raelin to silence him’

The Witness: "‘We killed Raelin to silence him’
27 Mar 2009"
Zamo Eric Hadebe and Mzwakhe Lucky Zuma, murderers of a promising, lively boy of six, Raelin Devnarain, and merciless attackers of his mother, Pradantha Devnarain, yesterday admitted that they bludgeoned them in order silence their screams. The men were afraid the mother and child would alert neighbours that they were being robbed.

Jailing them both for life for the murder of Raelin, 20 years for the attempted murder of Pradantha, and 15 years for aggravated robbery, Judge Anton van Zyl said it is difficult to visualise more heinous acts than these crimes.

PMB mayor defends herself

The Witness: "PMB mayor defends herself
26 Mar 2009"
The fall-out from Wednesday’s controversial full council meeting, which saw the IFP call for the removal of Mayor Zanele Hlatshwayo over extravangant spending, continues at city hall.

Yesterday’s executive committee (Exco) meeting saw the mayor defend herself, while Deputy Mayor Mervyn Dirks and Councillor Themba Zungu used the meeting to criticise The Witness for its coverage of the municipality.

Hlatshwayo, who did not get an opportunity to speak at Wednesday’s council meeting, had her chance at the start of Exco when a faith-based centre for children in Edendale made a presentation asking for funding to complete its building.

She said that, as fellow councillors could see, there is no money going into a Hlatshwayo trust fund. “The money in the mayoral fund, as set out by legislation, is going to the youth, HIV/Aids projects and children, and there is nothing wrong with giving money to the most disadvantaged.”

Hlatshwayo said that as requests come into her office, she is obliged to consider them and she will continue to do so. “I will not be intimidated,” she said.

Zungu said he was hesitant to speak because it would be reported that his support allowed the mayor to get her way. He added that the ones who say the mayor spends money extravagantly don’t know about the projects she is involved in because it is not reported in the newspaper.

“There is a picture (in the presentation) of the mayor visiting the school. If we take this to the newspaper, I don’t think it will be published.”

When a suggestion came up later in Exco that different units in the municipality should market themselves on their service delivery efforts, both Dirks and Zungu urged the council not to buy space in The Witness. “Buy space in the Sun or Public Eye, not in The Witness; they never say anything positive about the council,” said Dirks.

The mayor came to the defence of the newspaper, firstly saying that when it comes to marketing the services of the different units, “don’t expect the newspaper to do that job for us”. She added that the newspaper has supported her and her programmes to uplift the poor.

Mayor queries Haswell’s sick leave

The Witness: "Mayor queries Haswell’s sick leave
26 Mar 2009"
Msunduzi municipal manager Rob Haswell came under fire once again in an executive committee (Exco) meeting yesterday.

He has been criticised in recent weeks over a number of issues, including his handling of overtime, the rates valuation process and the awarding of a tender of more than R200 million to automate water and electricity readings.

At yesterday’s Exco meeting during a discussion on procurement matters, councillor Themba Zungu called on the procurement unit to buy flowers and a sympathy card for the municipal manager, who has been away from work on sick leave for some time.

However, the mayor pointed out that Haswell cannot be sick because he has been seen jogging near his home every morning.

She suggested The Witness should verify this by sending a photographer to the area one morning.

Attempts to reach Haswell for comment late yesterday were unsuccessful.

Procurement manager Francis Grantham was also cautioned over shortcomings in the running of the supply chain contracts.

Deputy Mayor Mervyn Dirks felt that not enough contracts are going to African people.

Zungu said that the people getting the contracts are those who had benefited in the past. “Those eating are still the same old people who were eating before,” he said.

Hlatshwayo said the shortcomings in the procurement policy and the fact that it does not make provision for co-operatives will be addressed during a policy update and restructuring that is due to take place shortly.