The Rep 16 February 2018.compressed

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6 Tel: (045) 839-4040 Emergency: (A/H) 083-272-0955 ° Editorial: sonjar@tisoblackstar.co.za - advertising: charodinev@tisoblackstar.co.za THE REPRESENTATIVE 16 Februar y 2018 EDITORIAL OPINION The beginning of a new era OVER the past couple of years, I have hit a bit of a low when it came to thinking of South Africa and its future. While every country has its challenges, at times it has seemed – and still does – that the odds are stacked against us. While the unemployment rate has dropped slightly to 26.7% the figure remains staggeringly high. Brutal and violent crime continues to affect our country and its people in the most horrific way. Thousands of children live without care and millions of people live in poverty. The land issue needs to be addressed in a way that will be equitable and fair and without harm to anyone, while ensuring food security. In the midst thereof, many municipalities are struggling to provide even basic services to their communities as ageing infrastructure, which has not been maintained for several years, starts to collapse. Inefficient officials and administrators contribute to municipal woes and the amount of money it will take to meet the needs to ensure efficient local government is mindblowing. The past few weeks have, however, shown us what makes South Africa great – as great as it was in 1994 when the dream of a rainbow nation was a vibrant reality. The political drama surrounding President Jacob Zuma and his subsequent exit late on Wednesday evening showed not only the power of democracy but also that South Africans will protect their country. It shows that South Africans, and more importantly those in the echelons of power, still believe in what is right. It shows that there is a realisation that absolute power corrupts. South Africa has all the elements of greatness. It has the most amazing stories of the triumph of the human spirit and achievements on various fronts, including sport, culture and academics. It is the country of origin of people like Elon Musk, Nelson Mandela, Archbhishop Desmond Tutu, Helen Suzman, Gary Player, John Kani – the list is endless. It is a country of great pride with a sad history of racial bias which some continue to exploit, to the detriment of the nation. If history has taught us anything, it is to learn from our mistakes. Just as the ANC – and South Africa as a whole – enters a new era, it is a time of learning. A time to realise that that which the past has taught us, can never be repeated. That an attitude of unity, respect, honesty, transparency and cooperation is the only one which will allow our country to achieve its great potential. Let’s trust that 2018 will be the start of a new era. Only time will tell AT THE time I started writing this on Wednesday night, Zuma was still standing firm. He appeared on TV, tried to plead his case and play the role he won an Oscar for way back in 2005 – being a victim. In his rambling monologue he tried to argue that he was being treated unfairly and was never told what he had done wrong. He says he was not defying the ANC NEC, but that he disagreed with it. He said what they said to him failed to “convince” him to resign. If you know anything about ANC politics and South African politics in general you would see that Zuma was talking nonsense. Why would the ANC need to convince him to subject himself to its decision? It does not work like that and he knows it. He is an ordinary member of the party. The day the ANC sets a precedent to try and “convince” its deployees, will be the day they usher in chaos. Imagine mayors, premiers and councillors asking for a reason why they are being redeployed or fired. Where have you ever heard of such absurdity? 12.2.21.2 of the ANC constitution indicates: “Sign deployment contracts with public representatives and recall any public representative.” I guess it took a long time for Zuma to get to this article in the constitution. At 11pm on Wednesday, he finally understood as he uttered the words most South Africans have been dying to hear for the better part of the last five years: “I have come to the decision to resign with immediate effect”. This reminds me of the situation closer to home here in the former Lukhanji and now Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality. Since 1996, how many mayors have finished their terms? If my memory serves me correctly, there have been maybe two who finished their terms, three have been redeployed and a possible fourth may well be on the way to join that l i st . What can we expect from the new Cyril Ramaphosa administ ration? IN TOUCH ... with Phumelele P Hlati Is he the saviour many seem to think he is? Is our job as watchdogs of our democracy over? I can say that time will tell and leave it there, but that would be a cop-out. The Ramaphosa administration should be scrutinised even more than that of Zuma. The ANC has made resolutions in Nasrec that indicate a radical departure from their middle-of-the-road policies. Will they implement them in their present form? South Africa is facing problems on all fronts – unemployment, poverty and crime have become huge problems. What will the new administration do to tackle these? Is 18 months enough to turn the ship around? Will Ramaphosa go populist to win next year’s elections or will he be pragmatic and unafraid to make unpopular decisions? The clue to this will be gleaned from his new cabinet appointments. ON THIS DAY: Using Valentine’s Day as a platform to express their views against women and children abuse were GHS pupils, back from left, Siya Myeki, Gugu Maqina and Emily Gavor and, front from left, Sazikazi Mbalo and Olwethu Mgudlwa Picture: SUPPLIED FACE 2 FA C E Question: Why did you choose nursing? Answer: Growing up I had my sister as a role model. She was a nurse and took care of people in the community. That was when I decided to do nursing. Q: How do you contribute towards providing an excellent health service as a nurse? A: I am doing health education and I inform people about the importance of making use of their public health facilities. At times we do door-to-door campaigns to households to ensure quality health services in the community. Q: What kind of challenges do you face at work on a daily basis? A: Our challenge is the transport, especially when we do outreach programmes. Secondly, the patients who are defaulters tend to challenge us, but we continue offering counselling and see to it that they comply. Q: Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day? What will you be doing this year – and if not, why not? A: Yes, but this year my husband is out of the country so it will only be a phone conversation. Usually we would go to a restaurant and enjoy our evening on Va l e n t i n e ’s Day. Q: Given a chance to change something about Komani, what would it be? A: I would look at areas, such as CANDICE WINNAAR YOUR VOICE DID you celebrate Valentine’s Day and how did you pay tribute to love on the day? If not, why not? The Rep intern Pilanathi Rasmeni took to the streets of Komani to find out. CANDICE WINNAAR FROM VICTORIA PARK Yes, it’s a special day to love one another. I took my husband out for lunch and this weekend we will have a Valentine’s Day dinner ... vox pops on the street What do you think about ... MILIEHE TEBOHO SIMAMKELE MTHWAZI ZIMASA DZINGWA SIPHOHSETHU FOYO as a family. Mlungisi and Ezibeleni, and organise a truck for refuse removal. The air pollution which is caused by the burning waste in the dumping site at Ezibeleni is a setback to us. We are fighting TB, but the pollution affects the patients. Secondly, I would fix the poor roads around Komani. Q: What item can you not live without? A: I can not live without my Bible – t h at is from where I get my daily guidance – and my phone to communicate with my family is very important. Q: How do you handle stressful s i t u at i o n s? A: My work is stressful at times, but since the patient is always right, I have taught myself to stay calm. I don’t often stress because I have a loving family. Q: How are you saving water? A: At home we manage to use less than two 20-litre buckets of water per day. In that way we are playing a big role in saving water. Q: If you were president for a day what would you fix? A: I would be a God-fearing president. Even in the Bible, the kings would consider God’s instructions in order to keep peace in their society. Regarding South Africa, I would listen and obey the will of the people and step down when asked to do so just to avoid bloodshed and more damage to our country. MILIEHE TEBOHO FROM MIDFORD Tonight I will buy flowers and surprise my wife. Then we will stay indoors and keep it romantic as a way or reminding her that she is still special to me even though we were married a long time ago. This will strengthen our love. with nurse Nonzukiso Dlepu SIMAMKELE MTHWAZI FROM M LU N G I S I It is a trend for our generation to celebrate Valentine’s Day with one’s partner. I do not have a partner, so that is the reason I am not celebrating. ZIMASA DZINGWA FROM M LU N G I S I I do not celebrate it because I don’t know much about its background. Growing up I used to celebrate it because I was young and everyone was excited about it, but now that I am older, I have started questioning myself about why one should celebrate this day. SIPHOHSETHU FOYO FROM N D LO V U K A Z I I celebrated with my friends at the Gardens park because this day is about love. It’s not really about couples. I organised a romantic dinner for my partner.
THE REPRESENTATIVE 16 Februar y 2018 Tel: (045) 839-4040 Emergency: (A/H) 083-272-0955 ° Editorial: sonjar@tisoblackstar.co.za - advertising: charodinev@tisoblackstar.co.za 7 IN OUR POST BAG 24 Prince Alfred Street, Queenstown or sonjar@tisoblackstar.co.za or fax (045) 839-4059 Letters must be accompanied by the name and address of the author. A pseudonym should be supplied where necessary. The editor reserves the rights to choose and edit letters for publication. Defamatory and slanderous letters will not be considered. Letters have to be brief and to the point due to space restrictions. Please limit letters to 250 words or less TEACHING FOR THE FUTURE: Patrick Adjei with some of his pupils busy learning at the Get Ahead Project in Whittlesea Thumbs up – and down GRATEFUL resident of Komani writes: A big thank you to Adri Bartis from the Border Kei Chamber of Business for keeping the community of Komani updated on social media during the water and electricity crisis r e c e n t l y. It was a great help to know what was going on and as to when the expected times for the services to resume would be. A big thumbs up to her and a big thumbs down to Enoch Mgijima spokesman Fundile Feketshane who was either on leave or was too busy with other matters to keep the community informed about what was happening. Rains are no reason to waste water CONSERVATION FAN of Komani writes: While the recent rains in Komani have been most welcome, I hope that people will not see this as the go-ahead to start wasting water again. The Bonkolo Dam remains empty and water sources remain under threat. The rains that have fallen over the past week (I believe it to be about 54mm) do not in any way end the drought or the water crisis we are facing in the area. The Waterdown Dam is also quite low for this time of year. The situation remains dire and we may continue to face water shortages for the rest of our lives. I would like to call on all our fellow Komani residents to save water in whatever way they find possible. If you can afford to do so, buy a tank and save the precious resource of rainwater. Please do not think that it’s acceptable to start wasting water – it will never be okay to do so. In the meantime, the district municipality should use this opportunity to fix the many water leaks in the community. It is indeed pointless for residents to save, while the water is wasted somewhere else. SOCIETY SNIPPETS From birthdays to anniversaries to achievements to notices ... Share your information with us on sonjar@tisoblackstar.co.za or fax (045) 839-4059 H A P PY birthday wishes are extended to Pam van Heerden (tomorrow), Neels Ferreira and Jo Jo Sass (February 18), Sally McKenzie (February 19), Junior Smith (February 20), Lesley Pretorius, Nita Govender and Pierre Scheepers (February 21), Graham van Heerden, Tatum Kelly, Thea van Eeden, Don Field and Abré Wagener (February 22), Lesley Millar (February 23), Elise Naude, Peter Staffen, Antonie de Klerk, Nadia Wilson (February 25), Amila Maselane, Esjevan Maytham (February 26), Richard Second (February 27), Annemarie Aggenbach, Giulio del Fava, Lorraine de Wet, Antoinette le Grange, John de Villiers, Suzanne Westran (February 28), Magriet Second (March 2), Melissa Sass (March 3), Gerda Cloete and Nicki Dicks (March 4). BELATED birthday wishes go to Debbie Meyer who turned 50 on February 9 and to Louise Blooms and Zipho-Zethu Manuel (yesterday). Congratulations to Andrew Breetzke who recently celebrated his 50th birthday. WEDDING anniversary congratulations are in order for Keith and Droes Wood (March 2). CONDOLENCES are extended to the family and friends of the late John Lala, Noxolo Tasana, Sonwabo Ndlebe, Vuyisile Ngoma, Kholeka Nomeva and Novintwembi Mangali. WE hope you all had a memorable Va l e n t i n e ’s Day on Wednesday. KOMANIW E AT H E R THE welcome rainy conditions experienced lately are set to continue during most of this weekend, and today there is a 50% chance of more. The temperatures will range between 15 and 31°C and it will be humid. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy but no rain is predicted. The minimum temperature will be 16°C and the humidity will be very high. The maximum will be 28°C. On Sunday there is again a chance of a thunderstorm, but again only a little rain is likely. Humidity and the discomfort index remain high and the minimum and maximum temperatures will be 17 and 33°C respectively.- w w w. i n f o s i g h t . c o . z a IMPACT OF SANRAL’S DRAFT TRANSFORMATION POLICY From October to December 2017, SANRAL took to the road to engage stakeholders on its long-term strategy and draft transformation policy. This followed the launch of the strategy by Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi and CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma on 29 September 2017. The strategy will guide SANRAL’s activities through its third decade of growth as it continues to plan, develop and manage South Africa’s national road network. It represents a re-examination of SANRAL’s core values and positions the agency within a rapidly changing global and regional economic environment. It builds on SANRAL’s major successes of the past 19 years, but also takes into account the sweeping changes in technology that have an impact on the engineering, construction and related industries, and the fundamental reassessments of South Africa’s socioeconomic priorities that are currently underway. The strategy together with the draft Transformation Policy were shared with stakeholders at workshops that were rolled out across the country - from Makhado to Polokwane, Mthatha to Mafikeng, Kokstad to Kimberley. Nearly 2 000 people attended the 34 engagements country-wide. There were numerous questions ranging from operational issues such as SMME development on a specific project, to high-level ones around procurement. The sessions made it clear that the agency is committed to the transformation of the construction and related sectors. These sectors have an impact on millions of South Africans. “Through our procurement processes SANRAL contributes greatly to job creation, skills development and broad-based participation in the economy – and we want to expand our role,” says SANRAL CEO, Mr Macozoma. www.sanral.co.za www.facebook.com/sanralza/ @sanral_za @sanral_za Reg. No. 3790342109421. An agency of the Department of Transport.
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