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.