Alicedale residents have suspended their protest action, despite reservations about feedback from high-ranking provincial government officials during a special meeting in the town last week.
Alicedale residents have suspended their protest action, despite reservations about feedback from high-ranking provincial government officials during a special meeting in the town last week.
Meanwhile, a meeting of Sanco, the ANC, Human Settlements and Makana Municpality is scheduled for Wednesday 22 April to discuss the issues outlined in their petition.
After the lively gathering in Alicedale on 16 April, where residents called on three MECs and a Sarah Baartman District Municipality mayoral committee member to intervene, the community agreed to suspend their protest.
This was pending ta follow-up meeting.
South African National Civic Organisation member Zanemvula Ntoyanto said this week there had been no clear answers to the issues they had raised on 16 April, but they could see that the Bhisho team wanted to work towards a solution. Ntoyanto said the delegation had promised to return in 14 days for a follow-up meeting.
Petition
"In the meantime the committee is engaging with them," he said. Ntoyanto said Sanco was meeting with the ANC regional working committee, a representative from the provincial human settlements department and Makana Municipality at 10am on Wednesday 22 April, with the aim of discussing the issues outlined in the petition.
He said their petition was a revised version of a document they handed to the Mayor in 2013.
He said the petition was still valid because none of the issues raised then had been given any attention.
The 14 days, according to Ntoyanto, expires on 30 April, the same day protesters arrested on 23 March are due to appear in court.
Ntoyanto said they had suspended protest action for now, but said if nothing concrete comes to the table after the 14-day period they would have no other option.
"However, if something does happen we will stand back and allow the process to take its course," he said.
The residents' highest priority, which is housing, had not been properly addressed at the meeting according to Ntoyanto.
Speaking about the N2 leading to Grahamstown Ntoyanto said MEC Thandiswa Marawu made it clear that the road wasn't budgeted for in the current financial year.
"She said the rural development department had a budget for Makana and Ndlambe and hopefully they would be able to use some of those funds to at least put gravel on the road," Ntoyanto said.
Awkward
There were awkward moments on Thursday 16 April as a group of around 100 residents ignored a call to order by co-operative governance and traditional affairs (Cogta) MEC Fikile Xasa at the start of the meeting in the Alicedale Town Hall.
Xasa was among a high-powered delegation that included MEC for Safety and Liaison Weziwe Tikana, Roads and Public Works MEC Thandiswa Marawu and Sarah Baartman District Municipality Mayoral Committee member councillor Vukile Balura. Administrator in Makana Municipality Pam Yako also attended the public meeting, where resident Gibson Ncipa read out their petition, calling for action on service-delivery grievances.
Ncipa forcefully claimed that trouble had flared on 23 March because the Mayor failed to come to Alicedale as promised.
At the 16 April meeting, Ntoyanto spoke about the housing backlog in Alicedale – no new houses had been built there since 1998, he said, and houses damaged in storms in 2008 had still not been repaired.
A scheduled land audit had not been completed. Ntoyanto said land was available for housing, some of which was owned by the Department of Public Works.
Potholes
Ntoyanto said of the R28.3 million Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) for Makana Municpality, R4.5 Million was earmarked for Alicedale. He said Makana had managed to spend only 16% of this MIG budget, and hardly anything had been spent on Alicedale, despite promises.
He said Sanco had asked various officials why no houses had been built and it turned out that Makana had failed to submit the required application to Human Settlements.
"Makana Local Municipality says it has no money, but it still hires more white-collar workers who do not work for the good of the community," Ntoyanto said. "And if work is commissioned in Alicedale, local people are kept out – they are told they do not qualify."
Marawu assured the audience that the Alicedale Road would be improved; however this meant levelling the gravel and fixing potholes – not tarring it.
This was met with angry shouts. Comments were that point about the road was that it needed to be tarred, as gravel deteriorates quickly.
There were reports that the road was even worse than usual, following the week's heavy rains.
Asked by residents when they would see results, Xasa said, "My time frame may not be the same as yours. We must engage with you – allow us the space of two weeks, and then we will be able to say 'work will start here' .
He also gave assurances that he would follow up on issues of governance in Makana Municipality, pointing out that they had already placed it under administration.
His final promise, which he repeated, was that there would be a response in 14 days to the issues raised at the meeting.
There had been an awkward moment at the start of the meeting, as Xasa took to the stage to address the gathering.
"Amandla!" he called several times, while the gathering continued to toyi-toyi, ignoring him.
The activities of the day were documented on video footage made available to Grocott's Mail.
It was only when Makana councillor Mabhuti Matyumza called for order that the crowd settled and the meeting began. The group left quietly and the smiles on the faces of police showed relief that events had proceeded without incident.
FOR A TIMELINE OF EVENTS IN ALICEDALE, GO TO: tinyurl.com/ou4r3ca
Alicedale in 2015
Protest action in the small town has been gathering speed over the past few weeks and it appears the government may finally be bowing to pressure from angry residents.
There has been growing interaction between the South African National Civic Organisation-led community and various state entities since the beginning of the month-long protest in Alicedale.
The protesters have been demanding since Friday 20 March that Mayor Zamuxolo Peter address them.
Alicedale, a 53km drive from Grahamstown, has been simmering for years over failed promises by local government, and their 'poor relative' status as a rural town far from the City Hall hub of Makana Municipality.
In the latest spate of action, parents closed down the local school for a week, starting 12 March, in protest against the fact that they have no maths teacher; on Friday 20 March, residents barricaded the main road and marched to the municipal offices, demanding a face to face meeting with the municipal mayor; and when Mayor Zamuxolo Peter failed to address them at a meeting on Monday 23 March, riot police fired rubber bullets to disperse an angry crowd who set fire to the Transriviere Community Hall.
There have also been strong concerns about sewage in the town, which have been raised with Makana Municipality. anele@grocotts.co.za
