While Makana Municipality trumpeted their official opening of Council in Alicedale on Friday as a sign of their commitment to bringing marginalised communities back into the fold, opposition politicians and community groups say it was merely a ploy to escape the troubles on their own doorstep.
While Makana Municipality trumpeted their official opening of Council in Alicedale on Friday as a sign of their commitment to bringing marginalised communities back into the fold, opposition politicians and community groups say it was merely a ploy to escape the troubles on their own doorstep.
They said the plans outlined by the mayor did not adequately address the real issues that Grahamstown residents were grappling with. "His 'State of the Municipality' address was the usual litany of unfulfilled promises which could have been recycled from any of the past few years," Democratic Alliance Councillor, Michael Whisson said.
"The residents who attended enjoyed a meal. They were obviously pleased to have been noticed at all – even if the motivation for the choice of venue might have had more to do with the antics of the Unemployed People's Movement than concern for the Alicedale community."
The opening of Council also featured the Makana Civic Awards, where Grahamstown-based non-profit organisation, Gadra Advice, was the overall winner. Whisson said he thought the recipients of the awards were all outstanding in their particular fields and reflected well on the diversity, excellence and initiative in Grahamstown.
He had high praise, also, for the musical items, which included a marimba band and traditional Xhosa items. "For the rest it was all rather pathetic," he said.
Brian Jackson of the Grahamstown Residents' Association, said they had not been invited to the function. "Generally we are wondering what is the point of these big functions. Why don't they just get on it and do it," Jackson said.
He said the association noted that the speech was a lovely wish list filled with promises for the upcoming elections, similar to previous wish lists. Noting that potholes had developed after the recent rains, he said the mayor's speech had mentioned a new road construction plan to include storm water channels – but there had been no mention of maintaining the current infrastructure.
Unemployed People's Movement chairperson, Ayanda Kota, said it was disappointing that the speech did not properly address issues raised by the Auditor General's January report. "As he was giving the State of the Municipality address, we expected him to say something about the recent demonstrations, because these were the result of the frustrations of the people due to the lack of service-delivery. And he has said absolutely nothing about that," Kota said.
Moving on to the subject of local economic development, Lwana had spoken about employment opportunities, such as co-operatives, and job-creation through the Expanded Public Works Programme. Kota said unemployment in Makana was around 70%.
They had expected Lwana to acknowledge this and be clear and in addressing it. "You would also expect him to say something about the crumbling RDP houses. To mention it, to address it and say how the matter would be prevented in the future." He also alluded to the plight of women in Grahamstown, who were increasingly the victims of violent attacks. "He shouldn't have shied away from that," Kota said.
