Grocott's Mail
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Thursday, July 17
    Facebook Twitter Instagram
    Grocott's Mail
    • NEWS
      • Courts & Crime
      • Features
      • Politics
      • People
      • Health & Well-being
    • SPORT
      • News
      • Results
      • Sports Diary
      • Club Contacts
      • Columns
      • Sport Galleries
      • Sport Videos
    • OPINION
      • Election Connection
      • Makana Voices
      • Deur ‘n Gekleurde Bril
      • Newtown… Old Eyes
      • Incisive View
      • Your Say
    • CUE
      • Cue Archives
    • ARTSLIFE
      • Makana Sharp!
      • Visual Art
      • Literature
      • Food
      • Festivals
      • Community Arts
      • Going Places
    • OUR TOWN
      • What’s on
      • Spiritual
      • Emergency & Well-being
      • Covid-19
      • Safety
      • Civic
      • Municipality
      • Weather
      • Properties
        • Grahamstown Properties
      • Your Town, Our Town
    • OUTSIDE
      • Enviro News
      • Gardening
      • Farming
      • Science
      • Conservation
      • Motoring
      • Pets/Animals
    • ECONOMIX
      • Business News
      • Entrepreneurship
      • Personal Finance
    • EDUCATION
      • Education NEWS
      • Education OUR TOWN
      • Education INFO
    • EDITORIAL
    Grocott's Mail
    You are at:Home»OUR TOWN»Civic»Action for Accountability’s Annual Town Hall Meeting
    Civic

    Action for Accountability’s Annual Town Hall Meeting

    A4A says inability of councillors to engage meaningfully with the citizens, factions, corruption are key Makhanda problems
    Sandile SakiBy Sandile SakiJuly 26, 2023Updated:July 27, 2023No Comments3 Mins Read
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    The group of committed community activists identified problems in Makhanda ranging from an inability of councillors to engage meaningfully with the citizens, factions in the council, corruption, and disunity in the civil society space. Photo: Anna Majavu

    By Sandile Dudu Saki

    The Action for Accountability (A4A) annual Town Hall meeting on 21 July at Nompumelelo Pre-School Hall in Joza, was a reflection of Makhanda residents coming together holistically as a collective to find better ways of approaching local governance and service delivery.

    Funded by the European Union and based in the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) office at Rhodes University, A4A is a project aimed at enhancing civic active citizenry in all social spheres to tackle the challenges that communities deal with. A4A also works with the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and Johannesburg-based Accountability Lab South Africa.

    About 100 people turned out for the Action for Accountability (A4A) annual Town Hall meeting on 21 July at Nompumelelo Pre-School Hall in Joza. Photo: Andile Nayika

    According to A4A Community Facilitator Andile Nayika, there have been numerous interventions and submissions made to the local authorities by the community and A4A, all of which propose solutions to key problems in the town. Nayika added that the project was essential to democracy.

    Zukiswa Kota, who is the project head in Makhanda, said PSAM is active in South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Mozambique. One of the reasons for establishing A4A in Makhanda was the recurrence of problems, which led activists to research the causes of the problems. Kota said that they had to formulate a plan to engage with the government and interrogate issues like budget and planning so that they could find solutions to the challenges.

    “What are the ways that we can maybe tackle the problems from a different perspective? Yes, we did the research. We‘ve looked at the money, is there enough money? No, maybe there isn’t enough money – people are wasting it, people are stealing it. When we need to understand what are the issues in the city, we sometimes need to get closer to the councillors, we need to get closer to the officials and the departments,” Kota told the meeting.

    The meeting went on to list the problems affecting government as the inability of councillors to engage meaningfully with the citizens, factions in the council, corruption, disunity in the civil society space, a lack of access to and disclosure of information, and ineffective and inconsistent communication. Among the many problems listed were also dishonesty and untrustworthiness of officials, apathy in the face of expertise offered or volunteerism, dishonesty among South Africans, and problematic party politics.

    The Action for Accountability (A4A) annual Town Hall meeting on 21 July at Nompumelelo Pre-School Hall in Joza. Photo: Andile Nayika

    A group of CivActs (Civic Activists) then presented the data they collected since the establishment of the project. The CivActs members were: Nontuthuzelo ‘Ntuthu’ Blow, Karen France, and Phila Nombombo – Community Frontline Associates; Ntombentsha Entsha Yamiso – Media Fellow and Lelethu Zono – Community Frontline Associate and Current Media Fellow.

    Very few government or departmental officials attended the meeting, citing a Developmental Summit organised by the Provincial Government on the same day as a competing priority.

    Previous ArticleImpressive bonus point win for Lily White against Missionvale
    Next Article A sad farewell to Gareth Shaw
    Sandile Saki

      Comments are closed.

      Code of Ethics and Conduct
      GROCOTT’S SUBSCRIPTION
      RMR
      Listen to RMR


      Humans of Makhanda

      Humans of Makhanda

      Weather    |     About     |     Advertise     |     Subscribe     |     Contact     |     Support Grocott’s Mail

      © 2025 Maintained by School of Journalism & Media Studies.

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.