10 years ago

POTENTIAL drivers are streaming from as far afield as Namibia and Cape Town to obtain their driver’s licences from Jan Kempdorp and Warrenton. The Kimberley Traffic Department has investigated the issue and will be releasing its findings today. Many feel they stand a better chance at passing in the smaller towns where there is less traffic.

ONE THING that I do remember after all these years is the day in 1990 when then state president FW de Klerk announced that the government would be unbanning political parties like the ANC and the SACP.

Finally after years of apartheid and many unnecessary lives lost, we were starting to move in the right direction.

Then came the even greater news, Nelson Mandela was going to be released. What a way to start the year.

Later that same year, in June, the state of emergency was lifted. Things were really looking up for the country and its people.

Then came the big one – the referendum in 1992. This would ultimately usher us into our democracy. This was a whites only vote but I think the message was clear – we had had enough of apartheid and it was time to start afresh where everybody in this country had a voice and that voice was heard.

What a glorious year that was but there was still more to come. We had our first democratic elections in 1994. I remember that day so clearly – April 27 1994. Obviously we had to work to bring you, our reader, all the news around the election. However, it was already decided that everybody in the newsroom would get their chance to vote. I remember walking down to the city hall and having to stand in the hot sun for about an hour and a half.

That didn’t bother me in the least. Everybody was in jovial spirits. It was like this was the very first time that some people were voting, and in fact it was the first for the majority of South Africans.

I remember almost a ream of paper being shoved into my hands. I remember that you had to vote for the national party of your choice and then the local party. It was truly a momentous occasion. I still get shivers thinking about it.

Now everyone was free and could do whatever, and go wherever they pleased. Democracy had been born. The people would finally have a voice in how our country would be run. We would have a choice of leadership. Man oh man, those were good days.

Fast forward to 2018 – only 24 years later. Where is the democracy we voted for in 1994?

Let’s just take one step back and go back to December 2017 when the ANC national conference took place. Everybody knew that then president Jacob Zuma’s days were numbered. The people’s choice seemed to be Cyril Ramaphosa. However, this came with conditions. It was almost as if they said, “OK have Ramaphosa, but there also has to be Zuma men at the top.” Where is the democracy?

Now, back to 2018 and we just need to look at the shenanigans happening at the Sol Plaatje Municipality.

The people had spoken. They wanted Mangaliso Matika out. Under much public pressure, he finally decided to go. Wonderful, democracy in action.

Then comes the twist. At a special council meeting held last week Pule Thabane was voted in as mayor with 33 votes in a secret ballot. However, it was decided by the ANC that Patrick Mabilo becomes mayor.

At the first meeting to elect the executive mayor chaos broke out when the ANC did not get what they wanted. They even indicated afterwards that they will not rest until Mabilo becomes mayor.

Where is the democracy?

Then we have the recentlylaunched cards that workers on the street have to carry in order to secure work. The organisation dealing with this is claiming that people can feel safe picking up these workers on the street corner because they have a card. For what? So that certain people of the population can feel safe. Honestly? It also basically comes down to if you are in a certain area you need to have a card. What does that remind you of ?

Does democracy in our country still exist? Or did we just live in la-la land for four wonderful years? THE SPOTLIGHT has been focused on the Sol Plaatje Municipality with the outcomes of the Section 106 investigation.

The investigation was initiated by the MEC of Coghsta only after the community took to the streets in violent protests that crippled the city, forcing the closure of shops and schools.

Without the MEC’s hand being forced by the community it is unlikely that any of the issues raised would ever have been investigated.

The report was completed and signed off at the end September already.

By yesterday, a month later, the report was still a so-called “top secret” document, despite the fact that it was presented last week to the city council by MEC Bentley Vass.

The councillors are public representatives, elected to their positions by members of the community, to whom they are answerable. Yet, despite this, no one was allowed to receive a copy of the report – not councillors, not officials and certainly not the public, without whose insistence there would never have been an investigation in the first place.

One wonders why. One also wonders what the next step in this unfolding drama will be.

Let’s not forget that the 106 investigation into the former municipal manager of Phokwane Municipality has remained “strictly confidential” and four years later never been released or any action undertaken.

This report was ordered by the then Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta), Pravin Gordhan, in 2014, following a complaint that was lodged by Vaalharts AfriForum, to investigate maladministration, corruption, non-compliance and malpractice at the Phokwane Municipality.

What is the point of going to all that effort to undertake such an investigation if the findings and recommendations are never acted upon and just swept under the carpet?

Is someone being protected or is it because the reports themselves are so procedurally flawed that they will never stand up in a court of law?

This is what our suspended CFO, Lydia Mahloko, and municpal manager, Goolam Akharwaray, believe.

They intend approaching the Northern Cape High Court in an attempt to have the entire report set aside, arguing that it is illegal in terms of its merits and the procedure adopted.

We do believe that the report should be in the public domain and that both sides should be given an opportunity to state their case and defend themselves.

It is only necessary to keep secrets when there is something to hide.