One of the most important aims of Grocott’s Mail is to serve the interests of the residents of the Makana municipal area. We have regularly identified ourselves as a community newspaper and we trust that our readership appreciates how closely we are bound to the welfare of the community that we live and work in.
For the above reasons, we repeatedly criticise the authorities for the way our water, electricity and roads systems are mismanaged. We also write critically of the South African Police Service, the health services and the appalling state of our semi-dysfunctional education system, for the same reasons.
One of the most important aims of Grocott’s Mail is to serve the interests of the residents of the Makana municipal area. We have regularly identified ourselves as a community newspaper and we trust that our readership appreciates how closely we are bound to the welfare of the community that we live and work in.
For the above reasons, we repeatedly criticise the authorities for the way our water, electricity and roads systems are mismanaged. We also write critically of the South African Police Service, the health services and the appalling state of our semi-dysfunctional education system, for the same reasons.
It is, however, important for all concerned to know that we point fingers not out of any sense of self-righteousness, but rather because we have a vested interest in these systems that are supposed to serve the citizens of Makana.
Whenever we are critical of the authorities, we always do our best to get a response from the relevant officials to respond to our charges. Sometimes we do get good answers that contextualise the problems for our readers, but often officials do not answer their phones or emails.
In almost all cases, only officially designated spokespeople are allowed to speak to the media, and sometimes these people are in meetings, on the road or out of town.
So, for example, one reporter may have a query about the dongas in our streets, another about the bucket toilets and yet another may be following the story about why the water is brown.
The newspaper may be seeking to find out why has the municipality has not put the dam levels on the website, why the electricity has been cut off in certain parts of town – again – and what is happening about the Mayfield development. All these queries have to go through one man, the official spokesperson of the Makana Municipality.
Only Thandy Matebese is authorised to handle all of these, and many more queries that this newspaper puts to the municipality every week.
It is not surprising that so many of our stories have a disclaimer about not getting any information from the municipality.
This information bottleneck is not good for those of us who are interested in disseminating useful information that is relevant to the residents of our town. Some of our information may be inaccurate or incomplete. We therefore invite the local authorities in the municipality, the SAPS and other government agencies to devise methods of releasing information more efficiently.
If it is not possible to do so, then we let it be known that the Mayor and the Municipal Manager of Makana Municipality have open invitations to write columns to be published in this newspaper, telling the residents of this town what they are doing.
They also have the right to explain their points of view if they believe we have been unduly harsh, unreasonable or wrong in our criticisms.
We believe that it would improve relations if the top officials made use of this offer to communicate with residents through the pages of this newspaper.
