TOTT 25 March 2021

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2 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 25 March 2021 TALK OF THE TOW NQuestions still linger overtragic bakkie crash into KowieSecond body retrieved, reportsof third person denied by SAPSROB KNOWLESand JON HOUZETIn the early hours of TuesdayMarch 16 there was a tragicincident in which a Nissanbakkie went off the road atWharf Street, plunging into theKowie River and killing awoman who was assumed to bethe driver.However, rumoursabounded from local residentsthat there was more to thismatter and that there was morethan one person in the vehicleat the time of the incident.Police divers from EastLondon recovered the body ofthe woman that same morning.She was later identified as36-year-old Nwabisa Mfikili,who recently relocated fromCentane to Port Alfred.Then last Friday, TotT wastipped off that a second bodyhad been discovered, also fromthe accident at Wharf Street.Canoeists apparently saw thebody and reported it but weretold by an unnamed source toleave it, but the canoeists hadapparently guided the bodytoward the river bank.This unconfirmed report waspassed to the SAPS on Friday,requesting clarity on the matter.In response, SAPSspokesperson Capt MaliGovender said reports of asecond body was simplyrumour and nothing more.Then, on Saturday morning,a resident alerted a passingsecurity company vehicle abouta body in the river.SAPS and the NSRI wereinformed and police divers hadto come from East Londonagain.Later on Saturday, Govenderreleased a report that a secondbody had risen to the surface atWharf Street and was retrievedby the SAPS.“A case of culpableLAST WEEK’S SCENE: The bakkie which plunged into the Kowie River at Wharf Street. SAPSdivers were called from East London for a body recovery, while an accident recovery teamretrieved the vehicle from the water Picture: STEVE COLEMANhomicide is being investigatedfollowing the retrieval of a bodythis morning [Saturday March20] at approximately 9.30amfrom the Kowie River in PortA l f r e d ,” Govender said.“The deceased [was]identified by his family asBuyelekhaya Zuma, aged 35,the owner and driver of thevehicle that was recovered inthe river earlier this week.“It has been established thusfar that both deceased were inthe vehicle heading back homeafter dropping off a friend at herhome nearby.“The vehicle veered off theroad and plunged into theKowie River. At this stage, noclear indication was received asto who drove the vehicle, as thedeceased female was not inpossession of a drivers licence.“During the course of theinvestigation, eyewitnessaccounts stated that a personwho was in the vehiclemanaged to get out of thevehicle before it sank but wasunable to swim to safety.“Since the incident, Diversfrom the SAPS, NSRI and localmunicipality patrolled the riverfor any signs of the secondoccupant of the vehicle.”Asked if Saturday’s body wasactually the third body from thecar crash, as a second body wasreported on Friday, Govenderinsisted there were only twobodies from the initial incident.It is uncertain who is beingcharged with culpablehomicide. Govender said it wasstandard practice to open a caseof culpable homicide whensomeone had died in a vehicleaccident. It would be changedto an inquest later, she said.The investigation is ongoing.Concern over concrete slab sizes at RO siteTK MTIKIContradicting measurements fora concrete slab at the site of thePort Alfred two megalitre (ML)reverse osmosis plant has led toanother delay in the project.Two weeks ago, Talk of theTown was provided withinformation by a source, whoasked to remain anonymous,that local subcontractorNokongo Holdings wasemployed by the municipality’sappointed contractor, QualityFiltration Systems (QFS), to layconcrete slabs for containers tobe placed on site.According to the source,during the process of doing thework, Nokongo Holdingsdiscovered that themeasurements on paper did notcorrespond with those of theactual site for the slab, resultingin work having to be redone.The source said the maincontractor, QFS, was not awareof these incorrect measurementsuntil informed by the concerneds u b c o n t ra c t o r.The completion date for theslabs had to be extended to¿29 Miles St, Port Alfred PO Box 2871, Port Alfred, 6170 046 624 4356 / Fax: 046 624 2293 Chiara Carter, chiarac@dispatch.co.za Jon Houzet, houzetj@talkofthetown.co.za Anneli Hanstein, hansteina@arena.africa Chris van Heerden, vanheerdenc@arena.africaĂůŬŽŌŚĞŽŶĐŽĂMarch 27 2021. Theinconsistency of themeasurements on paper and onsite raised many questions, thesource said.“Why do they not have anengineering person on site inPort Alfred for this R100m[project]?“Their engineering person isbased in Cape Town and theysent a person later to verify thesemeasurements.“You would expect a bigcompany like that to discoverthese things for themselves,” thesource said.Speaking as a concernedresident, the source asked: “Wi l lwe ever get water in this area?“Trust me, even next year wewill be in the same situation thatwe are right now.”According to informationreceived by TotT, the changes inmeasurements resulted inchanges in variation orders fortest cubes, for meshreinforcement, a ready mixprice increase and an extensionof time due to the additionalwork, as anticipated by thecontractor on site.ĂůŬŽĨŚĞŽŶΛĂůŬŽŌŚĞŽŶĞĐĂůŬŽĨŚĞŽŶŶĚůĂŵďĞTalk of the Town subscribes to the Code of Ethics and Conduct for South African Printand Online Media that prescribes news that is truthful, accurate, fair and balanced.If we don’t live up to the Code, within 20 days of the date of publication of the material,please contact the Public Advocate at 011 484 3612, fax: 011 4843619. You can also¿khanyim@ombudsman.org.za or lodge a complaint on ourwebsite: www.presscouncil.org.zaIn an exchange ofcorrespondence provided toTotT, Nokongo Holdings sentrequests to QFS on theircompany letterhead, whereasthe responses from QFS arehandwritten notes from a ThaboMakaluza.❝ He denied thatQFS had giveni n c o r re c tm e a s u re m e n t sto NokongoHoldingsIn one of the letters datedMarch 15, Makaluza says: “Th esubcontractor is herein grantedan extension of time of four daysdue to the hold point.“These being March 11,March 12 2021, March 13 andMarch 15 2021.“The revised completiondate as a result of this extensionwill now be March 27.”In the letters, QFS furthercommitted to honour financialobligations that occurred as aresult of the changes.“The subcontractor will becompensated for his timerelated P & G’s and standingtime cost for his hired time plantand machinery due to this holdpoint in the next paymentcertificate. To facilitate this, thesubcontractor is requested tosubmit copies of invoices/quotation for the hired plant andmachinery that is on site,” theMarch 15 letter states.TotT sent queries tomunicipal spokesperson CecilMbolekwa about the issue of thecontradicting measurementsand delays.He denied that QFS hadgiven incorrect measurementsto Nokongo Holdings.“The drawings that are usedby SMMEs have been approvedby the municipal appointedproject managers [NewGround] and further the plinthshave to meet the manufacturer’srequirements. Therefore we find24 Hours: 0861 046 046Office Hours: (046) 624 3708SECURE IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS AND VALUABLE ITEMS IN ASAFE PLACE WITHIN YOUR HOME OR DEPOSIT THEM IN A BANKWORKD E L AY S :Concerns havebeen raisedabout concreteslabs laid for thetwo megalitrereverse osmosisplant for PortAlfred P i c t u re :SUPPLIEDthis statement incorrect,” hewrote in response.Mbolekwa, however,admitted that the work wa shalted for about three days,which resulted in the localcompany getting an extensioncompletion date of March 27.Justifying the extension date,Mbolekwa said: “Yes, we agreethe works were halted due tothe quality control process thatneeded an engineer to certifythe works before any workscould proceed.“It must also be noted thatthis process is also factored inthe contractor’s programme.”Mbolekwa also disputedclaims that QFS did not have anengineer on site.
TALK OF THE TOWN 25 March 2021 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 3ANOTHER CLEAN-UP VENTURELast Thursday the Port Alfred Lions Club againpacked their gloves and plastic bags on-boardthe Integrity barge for a Kowie River clean-up.This is just one of the many occasions the Lionshave gone out to keep the river banks clear ofrubbish and club president John Dell promisesit will not be the last Picture: ROB KNOWLESHuman skullfound in bushat Wharf StMember of public looking for reedscalls police after finding remainsJON HOUZETPolice have opened an inquestdocket after a human skullwas found in the bush aroundthe vlei at the Wharf Street bend.TotT received a tip-off that askeleton had been found at the siteabout two weeks ago.In response to TotT’s query,police spokesperson Capt MaliGovender said: “According toinformation received, on March 13 amember of the public was in thebushes looking for reeds when hecame across a human skull.“The SAPS were called out andresponded. The skull was recoveredby local forensics and will beforwarded for testing.“It appeared to have been oldand was covered in greenishcoloured mould. The area wascombed for other human remainswith negative results,” G ove n d e rsaid.“An inquest docket was openedfor investigation.”❝The skull was recoveredby local forensics andwill be forwarded fortesting ... The area wascombed for other humanremains with negativere s u l t sCaptain Mali GovenderPOLICE SPOKESMANVACANCYMature, responsible person required forŝŐŚĞŝŶŚĞŽŵůĞŵĞŶĂĞĂůŚŝĞůĚďĞĂĐĐĂůĂŶĚŚĂŶĚŝŚĂĨŝĞŶĚůŶĂĞůŚŽŐŚ ŶŽ ŵĞĚŝĐĂů ŶŝŶŐ ŝ ŶĞĞĚĞĚĞĞŝĞŶĐĞŝŶŶŝŶŐŽĐĂĞŐŝŝŶŐŽůĚbe an advantage.ŽŶŵŽŬĞŽŶĂŶŽĞĞŶĂůůĞĂĞ ĞŶĚ ĂďŝĚŐĞĚ ŝŚ ĐŽŶĂĐĂďůĞĞĨĞĞŶĐĞĨŽŚĞĂĞŶŽŶŽĨĞůĞŶůĂĂŶĐŝĞĂůŚĞŶĞŽůĨĞĚĞůĞĞůůŵĂŝůŚĞŚĞĚĞΛŐŵĂŝůĐŽŵESTATE LATE AUCTION:As instructed to by the executors of theESTATE LATE MARTIN VAN DER RIET,we will be holding an auction onSATURDAY, APRIL 3RDat 10a.m.at 315 Bailie Rd, Bathurst Trading Hours: Mon – Sat: 7:30am - 6pm Sundays 8am - 4pmTops: Mon - Sat: 9am - 6pm Sun: 9am - 1pmValid: 25 - 28 March 2021 | E&OE | Tel: 046 624 3542 | www.rosehillsuperspar.co.zaTrading Hours: Mon – Sat: 7am - 7pm Sundays: 7:30am - 5pmTops: Mon - Sat: 8:30am - 7:00pm Sunday: 9am - 1pmValid: 25 - 28 March 2021 | E&OE | Tel: 046 940 0383 | While stocks lastBeef FilletMangoesSpar UHT Milk 6×1ltBulk Stewing BeefPork Braai ChopsBulk Beef MinceR139.99 per kgR11.99 each R74.99 eachR59.99 per kgR59.99 per kgR79.99 per kgWeetbix 48's 900gR44.99 eachChicken Strips withChipsR24.99 eachHalf Garlic LoafR12.99 eachVeg Combo: 7kg Potatoes7kg Butternut, 3kg Carrotsand 3kg OnionsR130.00 p/comboHot Cross Buns 6'sGolden DeliciousApples 1,5kgR11.99 each R16.99 each
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TOTT 25 March 2021

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