The Rep 1 February 2019

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THE REPRESENTATIVE 1 Februar y 2019
EDITORIAL
OPINION
Do investigations
do any good?
SA must be the “commission
of inquiry” capital of the
world. Well, commission,
investigation, inquiry, public
scrutiny, examination ... call it
what you will, it all boils down to
the same thing in the end.
Among many others we have in
recent years had the arms deal,
Nkandla, the whole Gupta saga,
inquiries into Eskom, the Nugent
inquiry into SARS, the Mokgoro
inquiry, VBS Bank, SAA, Eskom,
the National Prosecuting Authority
and now the Zondo Commission
investigating the ramifications of
the Bosasa shenanigans and the
scrutiny of the Public Investment
C o r p o r at i o n … the list goes on…
And while all these
commissions open up their
respective cans of worms – and so
they should – what is the
outcome? The only entities to
benefit from these inquiries, it
seems, are the television stations
which can fill their daytime
viewing with the free, neverending
goings-on of some commission.
We are all duly shocked to hear
the undreamt-of extent to which
people go to enrich themselves
and grab power and we “ooh” and
“aah” when we learn just how
unbelievably devious and
dishonest some people can be,
but when the hearing is over and
the dust settles, what happens
then?
The scrutiny reveals only the tip
of the iceberg of the extent of the
ongoing feeding frenzy that is
happening under our noses, but it
leaves South Africans wondering
where they will find justice as they
hear of cases being deliberately
being squashed and believing
there will never be adequate
service delivery or job creation
because the funds are being
squandered and misappropriated
by a few.
But the results of these very
expensive hearings are never
made public, no explanations are
given and the perpetrators never
suffer any consequences that we
know of.
Certainly their names have been
dragged through the mud and
perhaps they have been relieved
of their jobs, but neither of these
appears to bother anyone.
Some seem to disappear from
the public eye for a while, others
sit back comfortably and enjoy
their ill-gotten millions, while
some start their own political
party in an election year – thus
ensuring that they remain in the
public eye, that is how badly
disgraced they feel.
DONE AND DUSTED: Ryan Hoffman was one of the Komani athletes
who took part in the Ironman 70.3 in East London on Saturday
Time for HPV
vaccinations
ANDISA BONANI
The department of health will host
its sixth human papilloma virus
(HPV) campaign since government
introduced the vaccine in 2014 for
girls in grade 4 due to the increase
in the number of women and girls
diagnosed with cervical cancer.
Mandisa Sitonga of the health
department said the campaign was
conducted on an annual basis and
required two doses over a period
of six months.
“HPV vaccine prevents cancer. It
is safe and effective in preventing
the HPV-16 and 18 strains of the
virus. I must emphasise that the
HPV vaccine does not prevent or
treat HIV infections or prevent
pregnancy, nor does it affect a
girl’s ability to have children in the
future.”
Sitonga said the department
would visit schools to conduct HPV
vaccination and grade 4 girls
would receive their first dose.
“All parents and guardians are
requested to sign and return the
consent forms to schools before
February 1 for pupils who will be
vaccinated. Girls who are 12 years
or older, may give assent for
themselves. Parents are requested
to ensure their children attend
school on the scheduled dates.”
The campaign will start on
February 5 and continue to
February 15 in all public and
special schools with grade 4
classes.
LOOKING GOOD: Children from Playways proudly showed off their school’s new T-shirts. From left are Zikisa Kamati, Usi
Mzangwa and Zion Ntabeni
Picture: SUPPLIED
FACE 2 FA C E
Question: Tell us about your
occup ation.
Answer: Last week I was
deployed to the Ngcobo local
municipality by the ANC and
subsequent to that I was
elected by the Ngcobo local
municipality as mayor.
Q: What inspires you?
A: To work and improve the
lives of ordinary people. As
public representatives we must
be exemplary and do our work
with honesty and integrity. We
carry on our shoulders the
aspirations and hopes of our
people.
Q: Your favourite destination?
A: South Africa is a peaceful
and beautiful country. There are
many places of interest. My
favourite destination is China. I
like China because of their
technological advancement and
progress. People of China are
hard working and they love their
country. I would like to copy
what the Chinese are doing
especially in agriculture and
manufacturing. I like their
economic policies. They refer to
them as communism with
Chinese characteristics. So
when we copy their
developmental agenda, it must
have our own characteristics, so
that our people can relate to it.
Q: Do you have a hobby and if
SHANE SHELVER
YOUR VOICE
Rainfall continues to be
scarce and the high
temperatures have not done
the situation any favours. The
Rep reporter Abongile
S o l u n d wa n a a s ke d
community members what
role residents should play in
saving water.
Shane Shelver from New
Re s t
The Chris Hani District
Municipality should call a
council meeting where
community members will be
able to put forward their own
so, what is it?
A: I like reading. From
reading one learns new ways of
dealing with a wide range of
complex issues. Reading opens
our minds.
Q: What makes you angry and
what makes you happy?
A: What makes me angry is
seeing people suffering and
what makes me happy is to help
someone who is suffering.
Q: If you were to be president,
what would you do?
A: President Cyril Ramaphosa
is one of the best presidents our
country has produced since the
ushering in of the 1994 political
breakthrough. The Thuma Mina
campaign has been widely
welcomed. Building from that
... vox pops on the street
What do you think about ...
OTHI MENZELWA SAMORA NJAMELA NOBESUTHU SELELANE BRIGHTON NKABINDE
ideas on how to save water
and not for the municipality's
officials to want people to
always listen to their orders.
Othi Menzelwa from
Amberdale
We should strictly take
three-minute showers and
turn off the tap when we are
brushing our teeth. We
should also repair leaking
taps.
Samora Njamela from
E zibeleni
Households should start
buying tanks and businesses
such as laundries and car
with Siyabulela Zangqa
foundation what I would do is
encourage every citizen to live a
healthy lifestyle. I would
discourage the element of
dependency syndrome. People
must be encouraged to do
things that will help them
improve their socio-economic
s i t u at i o n .
Q: What is it that people do
not know about you?
A: I think that I am a very
open and not a difficult and
complicated person. I dislike
laziness. What I think many
people don’t know about me is
that I am a sportsman as well.
Q: What do you believe can be
done to curb unemployment
in South Africa?
A: I believe that we need to
washes should definitely own
tanks. Chris Hani
Municipality should introduce
a system where if people
exceed a certain number of
litres they would be
penalised just like in Port
Elizabeth. Pastors must pray
for rain – it has worked
b e fo r e .
Nobesuthu Selelane from
Ko m a n i
We should reuse our
laundry rinsing water for
flushing the toilets and our
soapy water to water the
garden. People must
prepare our people for the
fourth industrial revolution. We
need to venture into the skills
development revolution
programme. When people are
empowered with skills, they
create work opportunities. We
need to support the informal
businesses like spaza shops
and hawkers. We need to make
sure that we grow the local
economy and diversify it so that
it is inclusive and responsive to
the economic needs of our
communities. We need to revive
both the rural and the township
e c o n o m y.
Q: Are you proudly South
African and why?
A: I am proudly South African.
I believe if we promote the
brand SA, we will attract
investors to invest in our
country. I strongly believe that
as a country we are very strong
in agriculture and
manufacturing. We need to
build brands that can compete
internationally. We need to
promote brand SA
Q: What advice would you
give to your younger self?
A: Respect time. Time lost
never returns. Procrastination is
the thief of time. Always do
things on time. Prosperous
people are good at time
management.
substitute bath tub water and
showers with wash basins.
Brighton Nkabinde from
Pola Park
We should use buckets and
not waste water when
washing our cars. We should
reuse water for other things.
The township areas do not
use a lot of water compared
to the suburbs where some
houses have swimming
pools. A pool contains about
60,000 litres of water. The
people who own them should
not take out all the water to
clean them.