Makana ‘deliberately’ slammed
I WRITE to you regarding the article titled “Farmers assist where government fails” (Talk of the Town, June 29).
As Makana municipality’s communications department we have noted with despair the disregard for journalistic ethics and conduct displayed in the article.
Below are some of the glaring problems that we have picked up in your article.
start out with a headline that boldly states that “Farmers assist where government fails” without even making an attempt to speak to the department of rural development and land reform and Makana municipality, which are both mentioned and criticised in your article.
go on to praise the farmer/s who supplied some members of these communities with water and lament government based on an interview with one farmer, Brent McNamara, who appears to be your only source of information for the article.
the intro paragraph, the article states the municipality failed to keep its commitment, without even trying to find out from the municipality why that is the case.
attempt was made to speak to the residents who were photographed showing off five-litre water bottles, apart from saying they are from an agri-village near Grahamstown.
attempts were made to contact Makana municipality for comment on the matter, and to prove that this was the case, the article doesn’t even state that attempts to contact the municipality were unsuccessful.
If you had contacted Makana municipality you would have been made aware that executive mayor, councillor Nomhle Gaga, and senior officials from Makana municipality visited Manley Flats residents and had a fruitful meeting about the challenges faced by that community. The same was done in Salem by chief whip Mabhuti Matyumza and ward councillor Thembakazi Seyisi.
We believe that the municipality was deliberately portrayed in a negative manner in the article, with no attempts by the reporter to get a better understanding of the situation from the municipality. Editor’s note: Talk of the Town apologises for not contacting Makana municipality earlier. An offer has been extended to them to give their side of the story on the water shortage, resultant protests and Brent McNamara’s comments, but they have chosen not to. The article dealt only with Salem communities, not Manley Flats.