TOTT 24 June 2021

More documents

Recommendations

Info

2 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 24 June 2021 TALK OF THE TOW NMunicipality slow to pay billR650 finally to be paid for broken complex gateJON HOUZETAfter one of their sewagevacuum tankers(honeysuckers) crashedinto the security gate of atownhouse complex in Aprillast year, Ndlambe Municipalityhad still not paid the R650repair bill until Talk of the Townasked questions last week.Acting chairperson of theAnglers Way Estatehomeowners association at thetime of the incident, Jean Scott,approached TotT in frustrationlast Thursday as a “last resort”.Scott said the incidenthappened on April 14 2020,during the first hard lockdown,when a municipal honeysuckerwas called to pump out aconservancy tank at one of thehomes in the complex.“The driver of the vehicle onthe day was unable to apply hisbrakes as he came downKabeljou Road and the lorrycrashed into our remote electricgate. The gate and electric wireswere severely damaged, andthe gate dislodged from itst ra ck s ,” Scott wrote in her initialletter to the municipality inAugust last year.As acting chairperson, Scottwas asked to contact thesecurity company for thecomplex, Sky Alarms, tourgently repair the gate andelectric fence.“The driver told me tocontact Sipho [Babama, of themunicipality’s infrastructuredirectorate] to report thedamage. I informed him thatSky would be repairing the gateand wiring,” Scott said.“He told me to get anaccount from Sky and we couldclaim from Ndlambe.”But she said owing to theprolonged lockdown, she foundit difficult to collect the accountfrom Sky and deliver it to them u n i c i p a l i t y.“There was also confusionabout whether we had to paySky and claim, or whether theaccount from Sky could havegone straight to themunicipality, which also causedthe delay in claiming.”Scott provided themunicipality with the accountand proof of payment in August,as well as the banking details toreimburse Anglers Way Estate.With no paymentforthcoming over theintervening months, Scottrepeatedly contacted Babamaand another official, OnkeSopela, and was assured themunicipality would pay for thedamage.She was, however,perplexed when Babama askedher for the name of the driver ofthe honeysucker.She said the municipalityshould have its own record ofwho attended the callout.Scott said a municipalemployee residing at AnglersWay Estate had been of no helpin resolving the matter.Even speaking to municipalmanager Rolly Dumezweniproved fruitless, she said.TotT sent queries to themunicipality last Thursday andby Monday Scott was happy toreport the municipality hadcontacted her and told her theR650 would be reimbursed.PARTY POSITION: Members of the EFF Ndlambe sub-region hold a press briefing on the water crisis, the new RO plant and other issues at the Port Alfred Civic Centre on Monday Picture: TK MTIKIEFF deny causing RO plant handover delayTK MTIKIOutspoken EFFcouncillor XolisaRuneli categoricallydenied assertions in astatement by NdlambeMunicipality last weekthat the handover ofthe new reverseosmosis plant lastTuesday was haltedbecause of a disruptioncaused by members ofthe party.The EFF held anurgent media briefing¿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.africaĂůŬŽŌŚĞŽŶĐŽĂat the Port Alfred CivicCentre on Monday to“set the records t ra i g h t ”, saying thestatement issued by themunicipality was a“lie”, misleading thec o m m u n i t y.The Municipalityreported last week thatthe planned h a n d ove rof the 2ML seawaterreverse osmosis(SWRO) plant on June15 had been delayedafter EFF memberscame to the plant siteand argued withworkers over safetyconcerns.“[The] QualityFiltrations Systemsmanager reported thatthere was a heatedexchange of insultsbetween EFF membersand workers, and forthe sake of employee’ssafety, QFS took thedecision to evacuatetheir employees fromthe site,” municipalmanager RollyDumezweni said.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.zaHe said QFS hadopened a case at thePort Alfred policestation and would seekan interdict.QFS also sent aletter to Runeli throughtheir attorney HeinAudie, demanding thatthe EFF refrain from“interfering with orobstructing the normaloperation of ourclient’s business at anyof its sites and not tointimidate or threatenany of its employees orc o n t ra c t o r s ”.Among theallegations cited byAudie was that EFFmembers had said they“would rather not havewater than racistwa t e r ”.In his statement,Dumezweni said: “Asa consequence of theabove, the team thatwas supposed to handover the plant couldnot proceed to site forsafety reasons.“Therefore, thecommissioning of theRO plant will beannounced once theabove matter has beenhandled as thecontractor is scepticalof going back to sitedue to their personalsafety concerns.”Denying this,Runeli said: “Pe o p l e ,we want to state to youthat the EFF at no pointstood against this ROplant.“We at no pointwent at the site tothreaten the staff at theRO plant site.“We know ourpeople want water andwe want water too.”Runeli said the EFFwas being used as ascapegoat.“People aretarnishing the name ofthe EFF because theyknow the EFF is asolution to theproblems facing thism u n i c i p a l i t y.“Last month, wewere told that waterwas coming but nowater has come to thepeople of Ndlambe.“We were againtold that water wasgoing to come lastweek and then [the]EFF is alleged to be theone that stopped thewater from coming.“Those are liescoming from peoplewho know they havemisled this community.“Those peopleknew that they werenot going to meet thedate where they alwayssaid that water wascoming to Ndlambe.“Now the name ofour organisation hasbeen used as ascapegoat. “Runeli said the EFFhad visited the ROplant site only toinvestigate the recentincident of an allegedrape which took placeat the site.“We went to QFSbecause of a matter ofan incident of a femalesecurity guard that wasraped by an allegedcolleague.“We went there toinvestigate the matterto see where ithappened because thissecurity guard isworking for Hi-Tec,which is contracted by24 Hours: 0861 046 046Office Hours: (046) 624 3708ŘQ F S ,” he said.According to Runeli,QFS employeesvoluntarily stopped theoperations because ofan altercation betweenEFF members and aMpumalangaConstruction officialwho was “wo r k i n gwithout a letter of goodstanding”.Runeli described aletter of good standingas a document thatensured the safety ofemployees at the site.He further said itensured the employerwould be heldaccountable shouldthere be any injuries.Runeli furtherquestioned NdlambeMunicipality’scommunication office,asking why itcommunicated itsupdates and mediastatements throughSunshine CoastTo u r i s m .He said tourismwas an independententity from themunicipality andshould not act as aspokesperson for them u n i c i p a l i t y.
TALK OF THE TOWN 24 June 2021 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 3Concern over bush fire, crime risksMunicipality to seek help regarding squattersJON HOUZETNdlambeMunicipalitywill seekassistance from anotherarm of government toaddress the issue of asmall group of squatterswho have set up campon municipal land nextto Stocks Avenue/WestStreet.Talk of the Townfirst noticed theencampment when ourreporter saw smokerising from a fire in thebush from SouthwellRoad on June 8.The reporterinvestigated and founda few men huddledaround a campfire,along with cardboardboxes, a chair andother paraphernalia.They appeared to besome of the same groupof homeless peoplewho had been campingin the bush next to thePort Alfred Duck Pondalong Southwell Road.After municipalworkers cleared bushand cut down treesduring a clean-up ofthe Duck Pond a fewweeks ago, a couple ofthe men living theremoved to the edge ofthe Duck Pond, whileothers moved to theland in StocksAvenue/West Street.Soon thereafter,alerts were raised aboutthe group of squatterson a crime WhatsAppgroup.Neighbouringresidents expressedconcern about the firesin the bush, the crimerisk and that the campmight eventually growinto an informalsettlement.One resident saidthe fire department hadvisited the scene after acamp fire was reported,but the situationpersisted.Port AlfredCommunity PolicingForum representativeson the WhatsAppgroup undertook totake up the matterf u r t h e r.Talk of the Townsent repeated questionsto the municipality overthe past two weeksbefore receiving ananswer on Wednesday.“We have visitedthe place anddiscovered that theseare young males whoclaim to be therebecause of hunger andbad treatment backh o m e ,” municipalspokesperson CecilMbolekwa said.“We are still tocontinue with ourinvestigation andpossibly ask otherg ove r n m e n tdepartment[s] to getinvolved as this matterdoes not reside with themunicipality alone,” hesaid.CAMPFIRE THREAT: Neighbouringresidents are concerned about a small groupof squatters who have set up camp onmunicipal land next to Stocks Avenue/WestStreet Picture: TKTIKID E D I C AT I O NTrading Hours: Mon - Sat: 7:30am - 6pmSundays & Public Holidays: 7:30am - 4pmTops: Mon-Thurs: 10am-6pmTHURSDAYS ARE PENSIONER’S DAYValid: 23 - 27 June 2021 | E&OETel: 046 648 1023 | While stocks lastRump / SirlionR119.99 per kg2 x Chikka BurgersR24.99 eachMcCoy PiesR19.99 eachHARD AT WORK: Even though it is examtime at El Shaddai Christian Academy, theteachers are still working as hard as evermarking papers. Piers Steenekamp had timefor a smileRenown Pork/CheeseBangers 375gTwinsaver T/paper1ply 8’sMcCain PumpkinChunks (Frozen) 750gR29.99 each R21.99 each R33.99 eachROSEHILLNEMATOFOR YOUR SAFETYAND OTHERS PLEASEWEAR YOUR MASKAND SHOES WHENSHOPPING WITH USTrading Hours: Mon – Sat: 7:30am - 6pm Sundays 8am - 4pmTops: Mon - Thurs: 10am - 6pmValid: 24 - 27 June 2021 | E&OE | Tel: 046 624 3542 | www.rosehillsuperspar.co.zaWellington SmoothTomato Sauce 700mlSpar UHT Milk 6 Pack(Selected)Sunrise Large Eggs18'sR19.99 each R74.99 each R29.99 eachTrading Hours: Mon – Sat: 7am - 7pm Sundays: 7:30am - 5pmTops: Mon - Thurs: 10am - 6pmValid: 24 - 27 June 2021 | E&OE | Tel: 046 940 0383 | While stocks lastSpar Frozen Chicken2kg Mixed PortionsR64.99 eachSpar Vanilla Custard 1LR21.99 eachOne Russian and200g ChipsR19.99 eachBeef FilletR129.99 per kgKellogg's Corn FlakesValue Pack 1.2kgR64.99 eachTsitsikamma Water5 Litre (Still)2 FOR R28F/L Potatoes 3kg, Carrots 3kgand F/L Onions 3kgR74.99 p/comboHometown CakeOranges 2.5kgR69.99 each R19.99 each
Page 1: Ta l knTTow OF THEh u rsd ay, 24 Ju
Page 5 and 6: TALK OF THE TOWN 24 June 2021 Adver
Page 13 and 14: TALK OF THE TOWN 24 June 2021 A DV

TOTT 24 June 2021

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?