TOTT 14 October 2021

4 Advertising & Newsdesk: (046) 624-4356 Find us on Facebook 14 October 2021 TALK OF THE TOW N
What we want from councilllors
Readers highlight wish list for service delivery
TK MTIKI
TotT’s Facebook question
was: Now that ward
councillor candidates are
visible on posters, what is your
message and request to the
candidate of your ward and
what would you like to see him
or her fix in your ward?
Readers poured out requests
for service delivery.
Jo Styles Worthington-Smith
referred her wish list to ward 10
candidate Nadine Haynes.
“Nadine Haynes, Ward 10:
We desperately need a wellrun,
organised and central
recycling facility. It’s beyond
understanding that we are not
driving municipal recycling and
community composting. How
will you facilitate this?” she
asked.
H ay n e s responded, saying:
“Hi Jo, I appreciate your
suggestion and agree with you
100%. These are the kinds of
matters we certainly will
address as soon as we are
elected into council.
“At this stage, we are
focused 110% on elections and
desperately need all the votes
we can get in order to have
more seats than the current
number of six to the governing
party who has 13.”
Jan van der Merwe said all
gravel roads needed to be
graded, not just a few.
He added that over two
years in Port Alfred, he had
never seen a grader on certain
roads.
Chantelle De Clercq
summed it up by saying:
“Where do you start? In a
nutshell, the infrastructure.”
Kànneth Deator said Port
Alfred was visually neglected
and unmaintained, and that
getting the basics right was vital
instead of spending money on
unimportant things.
Deator listed water, fixing
potholes and keeping the CBD
clean as things to be prioritised.
Quintus Strydom said: “To
actually show their faces in real
and not only on posters.”
Alida Botes Taylor said
deploy people who are skilled
to deliver efficient services and
eliminate queuing for services. “
“Fix the water problem,” she
said.
Karen RamsayTannahill said
as a start, councilors should be
visible, easily contactable and
p r o a c t ive .
Caryn Bruyns asserted that
water in the taps would be a
great start.
Pauline Angela Weed
echoed Bruyns’ view, saying:
“Have municipal water that
comes out of the taps for a
starter!”
Siya Ngubo said: “Th e y
should equip themselves with
the necessary knowledge to
effectively participate in the
decision making of the council.
“Most of them will be there
for two years before they can
fully understand the basic
concepts used in those
meetings, just being told what
to agree on in the meantime.”
Noelene Lee mentioned a
feeding scheme, skills
upliftment programme, water in
taps, traffic rules enforcement
and Covid-19 vaccine drives.
Mike Kennedy said honesty,
integrity and knowledge were
the three main qualities
required of candidates.
He further said they need to
focus on service delivery which
encompasses many actions and
to resolve the lawlessness which
is crippling the country.
Susan Jeanne Robertson
said: “Sort out the roads, cut
back the overgrown bushes and
clean up the town. These are
not difficult things to do – just
get the municipal staff to do the
job they are paid to do!”
Aletta MacCallum said
water, adding that if they do
their jobs in every department
there wouldn’t be any
problems.
“Stop stealing and thinking it
is your right to do so,” she said.
Gerald and Wanda Loxton
emphatically wrote: “Wa t e r,
water, water!!!”
Ann Atteridge-Tyrrell said:
“You can’t govern from an office
chair, get out and about.”
Zyane Coombe listed water,
better roads, better policing,
that municipal verges be cut
and cleaned, the hazards of
pedestrians crossing at the
Wesley Hill traffic light, and
toilet facilities at the taxi rank.
“Stop the people urinating
on the brick wall [at the taxi
rank], better lighting at the pier
for fishermen,” she said.
CO U N C I L N OT ES
... the municipality’s voice
JON HOUZET
The first in-person
council meeting of the
current council in 10
months was also their
last meeting before the
local government
election next month.
The council met in
the Memorial Hall at
the Port Alfred Civic
Centre rather than the
council chambers.
Only five members
of the public sat in the
gallery, including Talk
of the Town and two
DA candidates for
council.
Several councillors
who will not return
after the election were
ƒƒ
ƒƒ
awarded certificates
and recognised as
aldermen, including
mayor Khululwa
Ncamiso and DA
caucus leader Ray
S ch e n k .
Speaker Vivian
Maphaphu said: “It is
my 15th year in
council.
“I’m one of those
councillors not coming
back, but the unity we
created in this council
must not stop.
“You will be getting
new councillors, very
young, very energetic,
but sometimes they
will miss the point.
“Robust debate is
good, but keep the
spirit we have created,”
Maphaphu said.
“In this council
chamber there is no
DA, no EFF, no ANC,”
“It’s about the
communities. Keep
that, that’s how
Ndlambe has
s u r v ive d .”
Ncamiso, ANC
councillor MK Raco,
EFF councillor Xolisa
Runeli and DA
councillor Joc Guest
were absent from the
meeting.
Maphaphu gave
Schenk and ANC chief
whip Andile Marasi the
opportunity to say a
few words.
“Looking back at
our term, it’s been a
privilege and an
honour to be part of
this council, serve the
community and work
with councillors and
o f f i c i a l s ,” Schenk said.
“We ’ve had our
differences, or we
wo u l d n ’t be sitting on
different sides of the
table, but we were able
to resolve them.
“One of the major
challenges is the town’s
water situation.
“But it’s not a
political situation, we
must look at it from an
apolitical position,”
Schenk said.
He thanked
municipal manager
Rolly Dumezweni for
his guidance when
council had deadlocks,
as well as Maphaphu
for being a fair speaker
giving equal
opportunity to each
party in council to
speak, and the mayor
for her guidance.
“I wish the new
council everything of
the best.
“Look at the issue,
not at the person.”
For his part, Marasi
thanked the DA, EFF
and his fellow ANC
councillors for working
t o g e t h e r.
“It is correct we
may have had some
ch a l l e n g e s ,” M a ra s i
said.
“To all the
councillors not coming
back, there’s always
t o m o r r ow,” he said.
Water availability
revisited:
Going over the
minutes of the previous
council meeting in
August, held via MS
Teams, corporate
services director
Lazola Maneli said the
minutes also needed to
record why council
rejected a motion by
the DA that the water
availability charge be
scrapped during the
ongoing water shortage
as many residents had
not been receiving any
municipal supply.
In the last council
meeting, the matter
was put to a vote, with
the six DA councillors
supporting the motion,
10 ANC councillors
voting against it and
the lone EFF councillor
abstaining after calling
the motion illegal and
unconstitutional.
Maneli said the reason
the motion was
rejected, on the
recommendation of the
administration, was
because it would mean
a loss of R12m in
r e ve n u e .
“We already lose
R11m to indigent
c o n s u m e r s ,” Maneli
said.
Supply chain
c o n t rave n t i o n :
Another of the
items in the minutes
was about a matter
raised in the auditor
g e n e ra l ’s report relating
to the municipality’s
contravention of the
supply chain
management
regulations.The DA
had submitted a
ALL HANDS ON DECK
motion, but the matter
was deferred to the
next council meeting
to allow the
administration to
collect relevant
information and
determine the legality
of the motion.
“This is the next
council meeting.
Where is the report?”
Schenk asked.
In response, Maneli
said: “We were not
ready enough.
We ’re seeking the
advice of an advocate.”
Affirmative action:
The position of
director of
i n f ra s t r u c t u ra l
development is going
to be advertised as
current director
Noluthando Vithi’s
contract will terminate
at the end of
D e c e m b e r.
Council agreed that
enough time be
allowed for an
interview panel to be
established after the
new council is formed.
The advertisement
will be placed in
national and regional
newspapers and
shortlisting must be
finalised within 30
days of closing date of
the advertisement.
Schenk agreed that
the post must be
advertised, but took
issue with the
affirmative action
clause in the
a dve r t i s e m e n t .
“After 27 years we
should be on an equal
footing to not need
affirmative action.
“I look around at
our officials and we
seem to be doing well,”
he said.
ANC councillors
and municipal officials
laughed at Schenk’s
comments.
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STEERING THE SHIP: The Damant Lodge board held its AGM recently. Re-elected members
are, back from left, Louis du Preez, Kevin Heny and Ross Purdon; middle row, David Janks,
Wilma Jurgensen, Gill Wansell and Dot Parsons, and front, Heather Howard and Margaret
Barnard who is social liaison officer on the staff. The residents committee, led by Ruth Jackson,
recently raised R5,000 for the Lodge from an in-house cake sale and donations, as the Lodge
has been unable to hold its annual public fundraisers during the covidlockdown