By ‘Maleruo Leponesa
A group of about 30 concerned Makhanda business people gathered at the Albany Club earlier this month to donate money for revitalising projects and to hear from Jane Cowley, DA leader of the Frontier Constituency and Luvuyo Sizini, caucus leader of the DA in the same constituency.
Cawley told the group they had their hearts indebted to Makhanda and they want to make a difference. The decay of this town means businesses lose value. No one wants to invest where there are water, electricity, sewage, roads and infrastructure problems. “Remember, when you have invested in a town, you don’t want a town’s value to go down because that means your investment goes down.”
Sizini said: “I was born in Makhanda and I know how this town was before and the frustration that we are currently facing and how things are at the present moment, of how things have actually gone down in terms of roads, infrastructure, sewage and water.”
Cowley added: “The strongest message is that no political party can fix the town on their own. It requires input from everyone. That’s the whole point of a society approach. Not everybody has money, but everybody has a skill and everyone can get involved one way or another to fix Makhanda because that’s what’s needed.”
Ross Purdon, an attendee, said: “I was a farmer who used to do business here but I currently live at Seafield but I’m passionate about this area and personally I cannot accept what I’m seeing here. It breaks my heart because the residents of this municipality deserve so much more, and I’m a big believer in back to basics; people want roads, sewage that works, clean water.”
