In the run-up to Wednesday’s elections, the proper management of Makana has constantly been in the spotlight. Critics of the government have repeatedly suggested that our municipality is in infrastructural crisis. In this week’s Up4Debate show we ask: is there, in fact, a crisis? And if so, whose crisis is it anyway?
In the run-up to Wednesday’s elections, the proper management of Makana has constantly been in the spotlight. Critics of the government have repeatedly suggested that our municipality is in infrastructural crisis. In this week’s Up4Debate show we ask: is there, in fact, a crisis? And if so, whose crisis is it anyway?
And it is true; twenty years after democracy, we still face severe problems with the delivery of most basic services, such as water, electricity and waste management.
In this week’s Up4Debate show we ask: is there, in fact, a crisis? And if so, whose crisis is it anyway? To help us explore these issues, we invited some guests to our studio who all play a leadership role in Makana: Ayanda Kota of the Unemployed Peoples Movement; Rob Beer of Beer Properties and Thembinkosi Myalato, Municipal Infrastructural Director.
Thembinkosi Myalato: “Grahamstown is 200 years old; therefore its infrastructure is in crisis in the sense of the age of the town. The issue of growth of population versus that of infrastructure cause issues of breakages, blockages etc. So yes, we can say infrastructure is in crisis.”
Ayanda Kota: “It really pains me that there are black people in the township who have been protesting over water scarcity for years. When Rhodes University then takes the matter up it does receive attention. The message is clear: If you are black and poor you continue to be regarded as a sub-human being.”
Rob Beer: “The municipality is in a very difficult situation because there are substantial needs to address in the east – and at the same time the western area, which has substantial amounts of money invested in it, has to be maintained. That is the engine that drives Grahamstown.”
