By JONATHAN WALTON Jonathan Walton “Public office, in any of the three arms, comes with a lot of power. That power comes with responsibilities whose magnitude ordinarily determines the allocation of resources for the performance of public functions. The powers and resources assigned to each of these arms do not belong to the public office-bearers who occupy positions of high authority therein. They are therefore not to be used for the advancement of personal or sectarian interests. Amandla awethu, mannda ndiashu, maatla ke a rona or matimba ya hina (power belongs to us) and mayibuye iAfrika (restore Africa and its wealth) are much more than mere…
Author: Rod Amner
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By SHAUN BERGOVER, Attorney at the Rhodes University Law Clinic This week’s article continues last month’s theme by investigating other rights and duties applying to credit agreements, which many members of the general public may not be familiar with. Right to information held by credit bureaux Credit bureaux play an important role in providing credit providers with information regarding the consumer’s creditworthiness. Information held by a credit bureau includes a person’s credit history, payment patterns, defaults, termination of credit and other related information. Increasingly such information is reduced to a “credit score”, often accessible via an app. The consumer has…
By ROD AMNER A moratorium was placed on non-emergency overtime from the start of June 2022 at a Makana Council meeting on 27 May. This is to stop excessive overtime costs, which were over R1-million a month. In an official statement, Makana Municipality said its work teams would only work during regular working hours. “No call outs will be attended to after hours unless it is a pre-approved emergency. There will be no working during weekends and public holidays unless it’s a pre-approved emergency. Therefore, all reported faults will be attended to the next morning,” the statement said. The only…
By ROD AMNER Several members of Makhanda Against Mandates (MAM), without a salary for four months, were forced to abandon their legal challenge to the Rhodes University vaccination mandate largely because of the unsustainable financial burden that the applicants had to bear, according to an official statement. Since reopening in 2022, Rhodes has implemented the vaccine mandate as a condition for entry onto campus for all staff, students, and visitors. In their statement, MAM said “the sheer necessities of life have forced us to make alternative arrangements”. “This means that the need and motivation to pursue the review application, which,…
By MONICA NEWTON, CEO of the National Arts Festival In three weeks, Makhanda will welcome the artists and audiences returning to the first live National Arts Festival since 2019. It’s a significant reunion; a symbol of our collective resilience and our fervent hope that the arts can resume their vital role in reflecting on the past, present and future. But it’s also happening within an environment that still requires 50% capacity in indoor venues and mandatory mask-wearing in all indoor spaces. Our Festival has been designed for these new realities. The programme is tighter in its curation but with more…
By ROD AMNER The Eastern Cape Treasury is set to make an “urgent intervention” in Makana Municipality, one of eight municipalities in the province red-flagged as on the brink of collapse. But, local opposition politicians and activists are unimpressed. In October 2021, National Treasury identified 43 municipalities in the country – eight in the Eastern Cape, including Makana – that would require urgent intervention in terms of S139 of the Constitution to avoid further litigation and possible national intervention. In Makana’s case, the Provincial Executive Committee has invoked S139 (5) (a) of the Constitution, which imposes a Financial Recovery Plan…
By ROD AMNER A further four more Ward 4 committee members will be chosen at a meeting at the Recreation Hall on Thursday 2 June at 5.30 pm to join the six members already elected. All Ward 4 residents are free to attend. The six Ward 4 committee members have already met twice and reported problems to Democratic Alliance Ward 4 Councillor Geoff Embling. Embling and the ward committee members are currently circulating a petition about malfunctioning street lights in Scott’s Farm. The petition will also collect detailed information about the street lights in the area. The committee has distributed…
By STAFF REPORTER Makana Municipality sewage contractors damaged an underground power cable in Hemming Street, cutting power to parts of the CBD on Wednesday. A team of municipal electricians restored the local transformer at the Scott substation by early afternoon and are now focusing on the cable damage. They will try to swing the load in the interim and hope to reconnect the Eskom Building, Checkers and Mr Price later. A similar incident knocked out power in Sunnyside on 11 April after a civil contractor digging for sewage pipes instead damaged high voltage cables in Maynard Street. Ward 8 councillor…
MEDIA STATEMENT: DEPARTMENT OF WATER AND SANITATION The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) invites applications for bursaries to pursue water and sanitation-related qualifications in 2023. Bursary programme applications are open from 1 June to 31 October 2022. The bursary programme covers full tuition fees, accommodation, food as per university guidance, books and stationery allowance and a monthly stipend. Through the Department’s Learning Academy, students who previously benefited from the bursary programme have since been provided with employment contracts. The bursars get relevant workplace exposure and additional training until they are ready to register as professionals with their relevant professional…
Story and photographs by IVORY COLLINS Mass production runs the world, following a system of global supply chains, convenience and profit. A trip to the local grocery store means long lines, plastic packaging and inflation. We have little knowledge about where the products come from, how they are made, and how they may negatively affect others or the environment. But, change is possible. Igadi Market is an online cooperative farmers’ market founded in May 2020 by Carla and Fred Bright at Kingston Farm outside Bathurst. The market aims to be an accessible solution to buying local by connecting local producers…