Council of provinces on 3-day visit to EC
A FIFTY-MEMBER delegation of the National Council of Provinces arrived in the Eastern Cape to assess the state of public schools, libraries, clinics and some community centres in Buffalo City and Alfred Nzo districts.
The group, led by NCOP deputy chairman Raseriti Tau, has been split into seven groups, and includes members of the Bhisho legislature, who will spend three days criss-crossing the two districts.
This is the third visit since 2015 wherein the members assess the state of public amenities such as the Gonubie, Mbizana and King William’s Town’s libraries, Dalukukhanya Primary School in Mdantsane, Mjila Ridge Junior Secondary and Zanokuhle School for the Blind in Alfred Nzo district. The delegation last visited in November 2016 as part of the state’s “taking parliament to the people” programme.
Addressing the media in East London yesterday, Tau said while they focused primarily on education, health, infrastructure and economic development during their two prior visits, all matters raised by participants in the public hearings and written submissions had since been considered.
“Since then, there has been a lot of work done in many areas to respond to the citizens’ service delivery challenges and aspirations, while in some areas we experienced inertia on the part of some implementers of government programmes,” he said.
For example, the team found the state of the Gonubie library far from satisfactory – in fact the bookshelves were empty.
It was estimated at the time that the Arts and Culture Department would have to set aside R15-million to buy books for the library.
At Nkantolo library in Cofimvaba there was not a single Xhosa book. There was also no internet access or study area for library users.
Tau said his team was delighted to share that of the 346 recommendations made during the last “visit in both major municipal areas, we registered a 73% ([54] response rate in handling and execution of the recommendations”.
“Information on progress on executive undertakings still proves challenging. This is among the matters that we will address during the report-back session,” he said.
However, Tau added, things had “turned for the better for thousands of citizens of the Eastern Cape, most of whom are poor”.
“These included opening of libraries for citizens, provision of additional classrooms, building of security fences in clinics, reliable water supply, provision of facilities for students with disabilities such as the St Thomas school just outside King William’s Town, renovations and support of early childhood development centres, and provision of temporary toilets for learners,” he said.
The NCOP, working with MPLs, will use the three days to inspect these projects and report back to the residents of these municipalities. current