Monthly Archives: March 2011


No lights on M1: Gauteng owes Eskom

Thursday, March 31, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

Lights on the M1 highway from northern Johannesburg to Midrand have been out for more than eight months because Gauteng province has not paid Eskom.

Johannesburg DA Councillor Marcelle Ravid says he’s complained about this repeatedly.

He says he was recently informed by an official at Johannesburg’s Region E that provincial government is to blame as they had not paid for electricity for the provincial section of the M1.

“It’s highly dangerous driving on this road at night without the lights. I really fear that a bad accident will happen because of this. They were on briefly during the Soccer World Cup, but have been off ever since” said Ravid.

The DA says its’ Gauteng Transport Spokesman Neil Campbell will be asking questions about this in the Gauteng Legislature.

“It’s totally unacceptable that a government department fails to pay its debts, especially where the safety of the public is at risk” said Campbell.

Credit to: Times Live

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Afriforum fights municipal exemption

Thursday, March 31, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

Civil rights group AfriForum is set to lodge court papers against Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies, citing ‘discriminatory and arbitrary application of the law’ due to Davies’ exemption of municipalities from the provisions of the new Consumer Protection Act.

Davies deferred the application of the CPA on non-high capacity municipalities in a 14 March government notice at the request of the Co-operative Governance minister Sicelo Shiceka.

Davies did not give any reasons for Shiceka’s request.

The Act, which could give consumers legal recourse against non-performing municipalities in terms of subsections which detail the consumer’s rights with respect to supply of service – will come into effect on April 1.

“Section 9 of the Constitution guarantees all South Africans equal protection by the law. Minister Davies is however now making the Consumer Protection Act applicable to and enforceable on the private sector only, while municipalities – that often are the greatest violators of consumer rights – are getting off scot-free,” said AfriForum lawyer Willie Spies in a statement.

AfriForum general secretary Alana Bailey said their attorneys sent a letter to Davies on Tuesday, demanding that he withdraw the notice.

Davies has seven days to respond before AfriForum seeks a court order to set the notice aside.

DTI spokesperson Sidwell Medupe explained that the CPA allows the minister to temporarily defer its application on municipalities other than those of high capacity.

“This does not in any manner violate the Constitution or amount to discrimination.

Municipalities are not exempted from the Act, but there is a deferment of the application of the Act to allow municipality’s sufficient opportunity to put in place administration systems for the effective implementation of the Act,” Medupe said.

“It is unfortunate that this matter is now opportunistically politicised this way.”

Medupe confirmed his department has received the letter and that it is under consideration.

Credit to: Times Live

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Durban faces massive water hike

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 1 Comment by Zelda

Durban’s unicity council could be forced to increase water tariffs by a whopping 30 percent – or more – in a bid to avert a debt crisis that threatens to bankrupt the city’s water service.

Such a drastic hike would not only hit thousands of city household consumers hard, but could also lead to large-scale job losses as industries relocate to cities where water is cheaper.

Only three years ago, the water service ran at a healthy profit, injecting millions of rands a year into city coffers to help offset rates increases.

But shocked unicity executive committee councillors were warned on Tuesday that unless drastic steps were taken, the service faced a R100m loss at the end of the financial year in June.

One of the emergency steps outlined in a proposal before Exco was an immediate tariff increase of 15 percent, higher than last year’s increase. But this does not take into account any increase to be imposed by bulk water supplier Umgeni Water. Last year, Umgeni Water upped its price by 13 percent.

A similar price increase, coupled with the proposed 15 percent emergency council increase would amount to a combined tariff hike of more than 25 percent. But according to council sources, the Umgeni Water increase is likely to be “substantially higher” than last year’s.

“From what I’ve heard, we will be lucky to get away with a combined increase of less than 35 percent,” said one source. These and other “corrective measures” will serve merely to prune the R100m trading deficit to a more manageable R60m.

Water service boss Neil Macleod was at pains to emphasise that the crisis was not a result of the council’s policy of giving away 6 000 litres of water a month free to every household, but rather a combination of a drastic reduction in income and unforeseen expenses.

In the former townships of Mpumalanga, Clermont, KwaDabeka, KwaDengezi, KwaMakutha, Madadeni and Georgedale, water meters have not yet been installed as expected and tens of thousands of households have enjoyed free water for the entire year, resulting in an estimated R23m in lost income.

Even in areas where water meters have been installed, gangs of “unofficial plumbers” are making a living bypassing water meters, allowing householders to steal R18m from city coffers in the past year. Where people have received bills, many simply refuse to pay up.

Collectively, they owe more than R170m.

Employing field workers to go door-to-door to convince people to pay up and to disconnect non-payers cost R15.6m more than expected, while hiring security guards to protect them cost R7.5m extra.

Peter Cobett, a Democratic Alliance spokesperson for the unicity, described the situation as the biggest crisis in service delivery the city had faced.

“Over the past three years, the ANC has consistently pussy-footed around people who refuse to pay for services. Now, the chickens are coming home to roost.”

Logie Naidoo, the deputy mayor and an African National Congress member said it was irresponsible of the DA to use the situation for political point-scoring.

He said Exco had taken no decision on the recommendation and Umgeni Water had yet to formally propose its water increase. “So, it is premature to speculate about any possible tariff increase.”

Naidoo said the council would approach the national government for a subsidy and he was confident it had a strong case.

Credit to: Independent Online

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Consumer act should protect all ratepayers

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

Civil society groups have called on government to ensure that the Consumer Protection Act is fully applied to all municipalities in the country as well.

The Act comes into effect on Friday.

It is expected to have a drastic impact on the way business is conducted in South Africa, giving consumers wider protection, and legal recourse to demand value for the goods and services they pay for.

The Black Sash says rate payers should also be able to use the legislation to demand efficient service delivery from municipalities.

The Co-operative Governance Department has asked for the country’s poorer municipalities to be deferred from the Act for the time being.

However, the legislation will apply to the country’s 50 high capacity municipalities.

Spokesperson for the Black Sash, Nkosikhulule Nyembezi, says they want the government to be held accountable under the act.

“We would like to see the Act applied fully when it comes to government services, particularly at municipal level,” he said.

“Understanding that the quality of water that people get, the interruptions of electricity without an explanation and the provision of quality health care services …  all those rights are experienced at municipal level and we would like to see the provisions of the Consumer Protection Act covering those areas as well.”

Corporate law firm Webber Wentzel has urged the relevant ministers to take urgent steps to equip the low and medium capacity municipalities to meet their obligations under the Consumer Protection Act.

They said it would be in the best interest of South African consumers if the deferment of the Consumer Protection Act in respect of these municipalities is lifted as soon as possible.

“The tragedy now is that many residents of these municipalities are SA’s most impoverished citizens who are least able to defend their rights,” Trudie Broekmann, a consumer law expert at Webber Wentzel said.

Municipalities are categorised by the Treasury as high, medium or low capacity under the Local Government: Municipal Finance Act of 2003.

High capacity municipalities have adequate resources and include the City of Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Mossel Bay, Nelson Mandela Bay, the City of Johannesburg, Tshwane, Emfuleni, Randfontein and Polokwane. The metros also fall into this category.

Broekmann said the new legislation did pose challenges, even for high capacity municipalities. The act was complex and sometimes difficult to interpret, she said.

“However, the Consumer Protection Act confers valuable rights on ratepayers and consumers, and municipalities should make every effort to implement the act correctly.”

Credit to: East Coast Radio and Business Day

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Explosive report on Nelson Mandela metro kept a secret

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

An explosive forensic report dealing with allegations of massive fraud, corruption and mismanagement in the Nelson Mandela metro will remain secret until at least the end of next month as there are fears it could affect the province’s economy, the Sunday Independent reports.

The report, dealing with issues of corruption in the Port Elizabeth municipality between 2003 and 2009, was compiled by forensic investigations firm Kabuso. However, its contents have never been made public.

A letter written by MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs Mlibo Qoboshiyane to Parliament last month lists the reasons why the report should not be made public yet.

Chief among these is that “the release of the Kabuso report, at this stage, will in all probability adversely prejudice the municipality in any possible negotiations or litigations.

The economy in and around the municipality, the Eastern Cape province and the republic will be at risk or at least severely affected should the report be made available at this stage”.

Other reasons given include the fact that private information about individuals and companies is contained in the report, and that it contains information of as yet unreleased municipal reports.

Qoboshiyane said the report “will definitely be made public” but added that, by law, if third parties are identified in an investigation of this nature they should be allowed time to respond.

Port Elizabeth newspaper The Herald has said it is launching a High Court bid to have the document released.

A separate forensic report by Ramathe Fivaz, which the newspaper obtained last week through legal action, appeared not to have been completed as it did not contain a response from former municipal manager Graham Richards, who was being investigated.

Qoboshiyane said he had arranged to meet with the municipality soon to discuss the Kabuso report, after which it would be tabled at council.

Its contents detail irregularities in several major projects in the area, including:
- The Madiba Bay Leisure Park project, a R4.5 billion project aimed at boosting tourism in the area. The project has had several setbacks and false starts and has never got off the ground.
- The Embizwni development – a multi-million-rand housing and tourism development.
- The upgrade of the Van Stadens Resort. In 2004 a 40-year lease was given to Buhlebendalo with the plan that the resort be revamped and upgraded. But six years later, an investigation by The Herald revealed the only development carried out was the building of a few upmarket rondavels for the private use of Buhlebendalo’s Kobus Smit and his wife.
- The leasing of Kwantu towers by the municipality, a building owned by the Jeeva family, said to be good friends with former mayor Nceba Faku.

The investigation also looked at whether councillors and senior managers in the municipality had declared their interests and other indirect business, whether supply-chain management procedures had been followed, and the dismissals and disciplinary proceedings of “certain municipal officials”.

It is widely believed the report exonerates the city’s former municipal manager Graham Richards, who was suspended in 2009 on allegations of poor work performance and irregular conduct, before being given a R3 million golden handshake at the end of last year.

Several of the areas covered in the investigation were listed as reasons for Richards’s suspension at the time.

Leon de Villiers, the DA caucus leader in the metro, said in a statement “the ruling party in the metro and this province have some explaining to do. They must be held accountable for the mismanagement of this municipality and for the total lack of transparency.

“Those persons who looted the valuable resources that could have been used to provide services to the poorest of the poor must be brought to book”.

The municipality has also in recent months experienced a major cashflow crisis, primarily as a result of overspending on the World Cup, which has resulted in severe service delivery budget cuts.

The Kabuso investigation into the municipality is just one of the investigations undertaken in 20 municipalities in the province.

Qoboshiyane said 20 municipalities of the province’s 46 had been investigated by either the Hawks, the Special Investigations Unit or the province’s anti-fraud unit for issues such as corruption and non-compliance.

Credit to: Sunday Independent

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Zandfontein protestors unhappy with ward candidate

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

Zandfontein residents protesting on Beyer Naude Drive on Wednesday morning were mainly unhappy with their current ward councillor candidate. They allegedly demanded that the councillor should step down as candidate and that a new ANC councillor should be added to the list, Eyewitness News reports.

Police fired rubber bullets at the group of protesting residents who had blocked off Beyers Naude Drive near Honeydew.

“The situation is tense and the road is blocked,” said Lieutenant Colonel Lungelo Dlamini on Wednesday.

88 arrests were made for public violence.

The protest started shortly before 06:00 and the residents threw stones and burning tyres on Beyers Naude Drive and Peter Road, said the Johannesburg metro police.

A large contingent of police was at the scene at about 6.30am.

“Motorists are advised to avoid the area as there are officers present and the road had to be blocked off,” Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said.

Credit to: Eyewitness News, News 24 and Sapa

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Joburg in DA’s focus

Tuesday, March 29, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

The Democratic Alliance has taken its election battle to the ANC stronghold of Gauteng and says it intends to win the billing-crisis-riddled city of Johannesburg.

Unveiling her party’s strategy for the local government elections on Sunday, DA leader Helen Zille said Joburg residents would have a choice come election day on May 18.

Giving details of what her party has done since taking over the Cape Town metro in 2006, Zille said the “Cape Town story could be South Africa’s story. We can win Johannesburg, statistics show that we can.

“Our goal in this election is to put other towns and cities on the same path as Cape Town. We think every citizen in South Africa deserves the same level of service delivery where they live,” Zille said.

The ANC in Johannesburg has been on the back foot after ratepayers lashed out at mayor Amos Masondo for not solving the billing crisis.

Masondo, the longest-serving ANC mayor in Gauteng, was forced to apologise after Local Government and Traditional Affairs Minister Sicelo Shiceka intervened.

But Gauteng ANC spokesman Dumisa Ntuli said Zille was dreaming. He said the ruling party had taken steps to improve its systems in the Johannesburg metro and was confident of retaining control.

“It’s wishful thinking on Zille’s part that she will take over Johannesburg. The city under the ANC has received unqualified audits since 2007 and it will be difficult for her to remove us,” Ntuli said.

The election battle between the DA and the ANC is hotting up in Gauteng. The ANC said it would target the DA-run Midvaal municipality south of Johannesburg.

During a DA election launch yesterday, Zille was accompanied by the DA’s Cape Town mayoral candidate, Patricia De Lille, MP Wilmot James and the party’s national spokesman, Lindiwe Mazibuko.

She told journalists that when the DA-led coalition took over Cape Town from the ANC in 2006, the city was failing and corruption was rife.

“We are not perfect. We make mistakes, but when we do, we do our best to fix them,” Zille said.

The ANC, which lost the Western Cape to the DA in 2009, is trying to win back the province.

It has promised to send its senior leaders on a campaign trail to win back the only province not in its control.

But yesterday Zille said she was not worried about the ANC in the Western Cape.

She said with government spokesman Jimmy Manyi’s recent gaffe about coloureds, and other public blunders by ANC leaders in the province, the ruling party was campaigning indirectly for the DA.

The DA has elected 37-year-old Mmusi Maimane as its Johannesburg mayoral candidate.

Credit to: News 24

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Gauteng ‘doing well’

Friday, March 25, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

Gauteng municipalities were “doing well” and delivering services to “all” residents in the province, provincial Local Government MEC Humphrey Mmemezi said on Thursday.

“We think municipalities of Gauteng are doing very well… In terms of providing basic services to the community,” he told journalists in Boksurg.

“Indeed we are pleased to report that every household is getting basic services that they deserve… even illegal landowners.”

This comes as the current terms of sitting mayors conclude, and after sporadic service delivery protests in the province in 2009 and 2010.

It also follows billing problems in the City of Johannesburg and a municipal strike in the province’s largest metro, Tshwane.

Mmemezi said the situation with residents’ municipal accounts in Johannesburg was “improving almost on a monthly basis”.

The MEC was briefing the media after mayors reported to him on their terms. He said he was confident the 15 mayors have done a “good job”.

He said a comprehensive report from each mayor would be released soon.

An influx of people moving to the province continued to pose a challenge for the government.

Challenges in include maintaining roads, stormwater drains, budget constraints and illegal dumping.

Credit to: Sapa and News24

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Bill to prevent cadre employment

Friday, March 25, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

A Bill limiting the scope of the ANC’s policy of deploying only its own members to key local government positions won unanimous support in parliament yesterday, less than two months before local government elections on May 18.

Though opposition speakers said it did not go far enough, they supported the Local Government Systems Amendment Bill, which will now go to the National Council of Provinces for approval.

The formal vote on the Bill was postponed because there were not enough MPs in the house to form a quorum.

“Our primary aim is to restore the confidence of the majority of our people in our municipalities and rebuild and improve the basic requirements for a functional, responsive, effective, efficient and accountable developmental local government,” Nathi Mthethwa, the acting minister of co-operative government, told MPs.

“This bill takes us boldly in that direction,” he said.

James Lorimer, the DA spokesman on local government, said the bill was a step in the right direction, but was undermined by vague definitions and would not dismantle the ANC monopoly on senior appointments.

“Are there other people outside the ranks of the ruling party who could help put these dysfunctional municipalities back together? Yes. Are they likely to get appointed? No.

“You can have all the rules that you want, but if you don’t have the people who are able to carry out the work, nothing will get fixed,” Lorimer said.

The bill’s proposals include:
•    People appointed to senior municipal management positions must have appropriate qualifications;
•    Anyone dismissed for financial offences will not be allowed to work in any municipality for at least 10 years;
•    Senior municipal managers may not hold any executive position in a political party;
•    The minister responsible for local government may prohibit senior municipal executives from holding any other paid position; and
•    Municipal wage settlements need to be aligned with national norms and must be reported to the national government.

Joe McGluwa of the Independent Democrats also urged the ANC to relinquish its hold on top jobs.

“While we welcome this bill we think that what is also required is for the ANC to finally end in its entirety this devastating policy of cadre deployment,” he said.

Lorimer accused the ANC of using legislation as a cover for the discipline it was too weak to impose on its own members.

“I do not believe the ANC wants to risk upsetting its own local structures by imposing party discipline on them. Thus it wants to pass this law and use that to sort out its own mess. So we are, in effect, trying to fill with legislation, the gap left by political weakness,” he said.

Mthethwa, who is acting for the ailing minister, Sicelo Shiceka, conceded that many municipalities remained dysfunctional.

“The days of appointing book-keepers, teachers and social scientists as CFOs (chief financial officers) are over.

“It is our view that municipal managers and their direct subordinates should possess inherent requirements for employment to avoid mediocrity in our institutions,” Mthethwa said.

Credit to: Times Live

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Pretoria power restored

Thursday, March 24, 2011 No Comments by Zelda

Technical teams have restored power on a rotation basis to most affected Pretoria consumers, the City of Tshwane said on Thursday.

“The city’s technical teams have rerouted the power supply on the 11kV network and power to most of the consumers has been restored,” spokesperson Console Tleane said.

Electrical supply would be restored on a load rotation basis until cables had been installed.
The outage was caused by a cable fault on the 132kV electrical network, Tleane said.

On Wednesday the power failure affected the central business area and Pretoria West Industrial – the same areas that had been without electricity for over four days last week.

Residents were requested to switch off non-essential appliances and to treat all electrical equipment as live.

Credit to: Sapa and News24

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