The Makana Municipal Area is under stress. People who live here are gradually sliding into a melancholy of ever lower expectations as the quality of life declines and expectations of a better future evaporate into the clear Eastern Cape skies.
The Makana Municipal Area is under stress. People who live here are gradually sliding into a melancholy of ever lower expectations as the quality of life declines and expectations of a better future evaporate into the clear Eastern Cape skies.
Several businesses have closed down in recent months, while others balance on the edge of viability that could at any moment tip over into the abyss of bankruptcy.
There is only one medium-sized production industry in the area – Makana Brick – and unions appear to be determined to close it down. Investors are not bringing their money to town because crime is rampant and the municipality is struggling desperately to provide basic services to its citizens.
There are many elements to the malaise afflicting Makana residents, which means that a solution will need to be multifaceted and durable enough for the long term, as there does not appear to be any simple, quick fix.
It is true, however, that not everything is doom and gloom in this area. Rhodes University and the private schools generate substantial revenue for Grahamstown. Scifest and the National Art Festival lift awareness of this town to the top of the nation’s mind, so that twice a year Grahamstown almost becomes the centre of the country for a week.
We have other advantages that would make most similar sized towns turn green with envy. There are numerous conferences and workshops organised by the university, the National Library for the Blind and a full-on infantry battalion on the town’s outskirts.
Just a little further out, there are many prestigious game lodges that draw well-to-do visitors to this area.
Yet in spite of these evident positives, we don’t seem to be reaping the rewards of our privileged position.
There are two obvious reasons why we are not progressing as we should. The first is that the key sectors in the area rarely work together. There needs to be more collaboration in order to make this a viable community in the long term.
Second, we lack a unified vision of where we are going. Business, the municipality, farmers, the Grahamstown Foundation, the army, the schools, civic organisations and the police need to sit down together to forge a coherent vision for Makana.
In order for this to happen, someone needs to show extraordinary leadership skills to be able to pull all the diverse interests in town together.
If we do not work together with a unified vision and a common goal, Makana will be like a certain TV programme, proudly proclaiming that it is going nowhere slowly.
