Council speaker Rachael Madinda-Isaac slammed municipal bosses for snubbing the Ward 5 mayoral imbizo held in Extension 9 Hall on Wednesday.
Council speaker Rachael Madinda-Isaac slammed municipal bosses for snubbing the Ward 5 mayoral imbizo held in Extension 9 Hall on Wednesday.
During her opening remarks, before rushing out to join mourners at the late ward 1 councillor Nomhle Ngoqo's home, Isaacs asked every official present to stand up.
"What I'm seeing right now is not making me happy at all. Not a single person among the absent officials wrote me a letter of apology."
"The people of this ward are here to get feedback and answers from the leaders," Madinda-Isaac said.
A fuming Isaacs begun the Imbizo on an angry note by condemning the senior manager's no-show before naming and shaming them.
Among the top brass named were acting municipal manager Mandisi Planga, administrator Pam Yako, acting Chief Financial Officer Busi Khumalo and finance and corporate services portfolio head Piryawaden Ranchhod.
Director of Infrastructure and Technical Services Dali Mlenzana, ward 13 councillor Mthuthuzeli Madinda and Local Economic Development portfolio head Nombulelo Masoma all arrived late.
Out of 14 ward councillors, 13 party representative councillors and four directors, only 10 city bosses attended the meeting.
Mayoral Imbizo is a nationwide local government imperative, legally required in order for a council to adopt the integrated development plan (IDP).
Municipalities also use them as an opportunity to interact with citizens, updating them on service delivery progress as well as upcoming projects.
Addressing the crowd Peter said the programme was endorsed by minister of corporate government and traditional affairs Pravin Gordhan.
"The Minister promotes this back to basics campaign."
In a rather strange and out-of-place commitment, The Mayor begun by promising to assist victims of a 2008 disaster.
A total of 161 houses were left damaged and some completely destroyed when a powerful tornado hit Grahamstown.
R10 million was allocated to Makana municipality by the Bisho administration to help the victims.
Former municipal spokesperson Thandy Matebese told Grocott's Mail in a May 2010 interview:
"The tenders are out and it is in an adjudication phase. After that, they will make an appointment of the service provider [contracting company]."
Peter said each ward councillor had been tasked with selecting four victims from their ward to be assisted.
Peter didn't explain why they are planning to help only four of the dozens of people affected from different wards.
Peter also mentioned a plan to boost electricity in Makana.
He mentioned the R400 million Waainek wind turbines project as a catalyst in this regard.
The meeting wasn't short of irony, as Ward 5 resident Thembisile Kondile complained about the deteriorating standard of the same venue in which the imbizo was being hosted.
The backstage wall of the building was slowly collapsing and despite having a caretaker, the hall's lawn was littered with rubbish.
There were broken door handles and few window panes.
Responding to Kondile's complaint, Peter promised to take up the matter with the acting municipal manager.
"I will have a discussion with the MM because this can't be happening that a new hall with a paid caretaker can be in this state," Peter said.
The R6 million community hall was built in 2009 and finished early in 2010.
In his closing remarks Peter also promised to follow up on service delivery backlogs including an unfinished solar geyser project, poorly built houses, bad roads and other physical infrastructure.
The Imbizo also featured 10-minute special presentations from officials from South African Social Services Agency (SASSA) and Human Settlements' quality assurance division, the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC), to inform community members about what the agencies are for.
