What’s going on at BCM can hardly be called ‘hard work’
IFIND the headline strap “A city hard at work” on page 8 of the Daily Dispatch on June 28 hard to swallow and more fitting for publication on the first day of April!
Many Gonubie residents would love to know where the “hard work’ is actually being done because little seems directed towards this suburb.
Our roads remain pitted with potholes and are rapidly worsening, many streets have no signs and the pavements are neglected.
As for rubbish, it’s being dumped at any convenient spot.
Two months before the end of the last financial year the Dispatch reported that Buffalo City Metro had only spent 40% of its approved budget. Where were the hard working officials which lead to this slackness, which of course, was to the detriment of ratepayers? And it was surely impossible to the remaining 60% in a responsible manner in a matter of two months!
In December of 2016 the Mayor “declared war on potholes” and Gonubie was earmarked as a focal point for the war due to commence in June 2017!
Well a repair crew filled in some of the craters but could hardly cope with the ever increasing workload and nowadays the crew are seldom seen.
Phone any service number to the offices of the “hard working” municipality and you will be extremely lucky if someone actually picks up the phone. And in the off chance that they do, it is invariably to say that the responsible individual is not in.
No, Mr Editor! Whatever is going on in the corridors or offices of the Metro can hardly be described as hard work! — DJ Michau, Gonubie
Port St Johns memories
THE article “Crackdown on corrupt leases” (DD, June 28) about the Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi saying the state was being ripped off in its private lease agreements and also announcing the establishment of several small harbours, including at Port St Johns, refers.
I wonder who remembers much about Port St Johns’ history.
I know it well, having been born on a farm known as “Orange Grove” in Port St Johns in 1928. As a small boy I recall strolling towards the Orange Grove farm jetty, about 15 kilometres up the Mzimvubu river from Port St Johns, and noticing what I believed was a large ship approaching. I later learnt it was one of four coasters which travelled up and down between Cape Town and Durban carrying cargo. This one had come to collect produce from my grandfather’s farm to take to Durban.
Years later I remember seeing ordinary harbour tugs, one of them pulling a large raft 35 kilometres up the Mzimvubu river to fetch very large slabs of marble down to the Port St Johns jetty for loading onto the coasters.
In the 1950’s while on holiday in Port St Johns I met up with naval engineers from Simonstown who were investigating a proposal to block off the Mzimvubu river and lead it into the Mgazi river at a spot where both rivers were very close to each other. The reason for this was because the Mzimvubu river brought a lot of silt down from the Transkei and the navy had intended using the mouth of the river to establish a naval base. But nothing further was ever heard of this scheme.
All of this may be hard to believe for people visiting Port St Johns these days because at low tide one can remove one’s shoes and walk across the river mouth. — Donald Card, Gonubie
Disarm off-duty cops
WE are forever reading and hearing of police officers killing their spouses or family members during arguments and rows.
Why does the police minister not make it compulsory for all police officers to hand in their guns before leaving work after their shifts. Surely this will reduce these type of killings as they won’t have guns to carry out those acts of violence.
Once police officers have completed their shift there is surely no need for them to have a police pistol or gun in their possession. — Brian, via e-mail