De Lille hears residents’ gripes directly
provincial department, and neither she nor her son received any payment arising out of the October 2014 matric maths revision workshops run by her son, a Centre of Science and Technology teacher in Khayelitsha at the time, free of charge.
“The correct facts pertaining to the workshops were made public by (Zille) at the time the allegations first arose, and were hence within your knowledge on the date of the defamation of our client sent out,” he said.
In response, Ehrenreich said Zille should come out and explain what was going on.
“You would do well to explain to the public just what is happening to the ventures your son is involved in government.
“Explain to the citizens of the Western Cape how you visit schools to check and coerce them into using Paper Video from your sons company.
“Tell them how you were stopped from using government money for the venture by your son and you then assisted in getting the Rooibos Foundation to pay for your son’s product,” he said.
Ehrenreich added that the DA was being exposed for the corruption and high-handed racist manner in which the party treated blacks in the province.
“You appear to be at the forefront of this attitude and conduct,” he said.
MacRobert said that if Ehrenreich failed or refused to take up the opportunity to apologise in writing to Zille and her son, Zille’s quantification of her damages would be adjusted accordingly.
In the interim, Zille’s rights were expressly reserved, he said. MAYOR Patricia de Lille may have very few executive powers left, but she took time out from a tedious court battle to visit Kewtown and surrounding areas in Athlone to listen to community concerns.
She set up a pop-up office where residents had the opportunity to talk to her directly and share their service delivery concerns.
Before De Lille visited her outside office, she went to a block of council flats in Athlone. She spoke to a group of unemployed young men and wanted to know why the area was strewn with litter. She was told there was a lack of garbage bins in the area. De Lille immediately had one of her officials order more bins to be delivered to the area.
After this, De Lille went to the Vygieskraal Canal where she spoke to workers who were busy cleaning.
While she was walking, a resident shouted: “Look at how dirty this place is here, mayor. There are people who don’t live here but dump all their rubbish here.”
De Lille told a group of residents workers would remove the refuse.
“She spoke to waste pickers who were in the area and wanted to know the extent of the problem.
De Lille then called another official to have workers clear the rubble in the area.
At the pop-up office De Lille spoke to about 50 residents in the congested streets of the Athlone CBD.
“We are here to listen to our people. We don’t just come when it’s elections, but we are here whenever you need us.
“We receive so many complaints from residents and we feel that we need to come out to listen to residents. But you also know that sometimes there are issues that you don’t talk about and as you know, when you keep quiet about issues you will suffer even longer.”
She said residents needed to travel long distances for basic queries that could easily have been dealt with by a ward councillor.
“You first need to know who is your ward councillor, then you need to know who is the sub-council chairperson. These people are important. But if there is an issue pertaining to the housing waiting list, you can send an SMS and we can get back to you almost immediately.”
Resident Julia Orphan said the council flat she lived in was in need of repairs.
“I have called the city council so many times, but no one has listened to me. We complain to the ward councillor about the bad state our flats are in. I am not young anymore and I cannot deal with all these issues.”
Liza Geduld said after her husband’s passing she has been struggling to get a government house. “I was in Wale Street (Cape Town) on Tuesday and I did not get any help from anyone.
“The department of housing could not give me answers and now I am left with no information on any progress.”
De Lille promised to visit other areas in the city soon.