Sanco’s protest will be dispersed - premier’s office

Civic organisation Sanco in Ngcobo has announced a total shutdown of the town in two weeks time and asked Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane to accept a memorandum on their grievance in person.

The letter, seen by the Dispatch, was faxed to Mabuyane’s office by Sanco’s subregional chair Mzunzima Bengeza on Monday.

It says Sanco is planning a march on July 14 and it would be “elated if this request could indeed be treated as a matter of urgency”.

But Mabuyane ’ s spokesperson, Mvusiwekhaya Sicwetsha, said the premier had not received the letter and warned Sanco if the shutdown broke lockdown regulations the government would act to disperse protesters.

Bengeza said they were unhappy with the poor state of three provincial gravel roads and needed them fixed as soon as possible.

He described them as high risk, saying cars and buses had overturned on some of these routes.

Sanco also wants an update on the recommendations of a Fudzudzi forensic report into fraud on at least seven road projects.

The report, given to both Ngcobo municipal bosses and Sanco, allegedly details corruption amounting to R11m.

“The report recommended that EC Cogta institutes criminal charges against some of the companies, some of which had been paid without doing any work. It also called for the municipality to take disciplinary action against some of its employees who were implicated in the fraud.”

Bengeza said the report, issued in June last year, was now gathering dust. Ngcobo municipal spokesperson Sivuyile Myekwa referred questions on the roads to the department of roads and transport.

Questions were sent to the department on Wednesday but no response had been received by print deadline.

Cogta provincial spokesperson Mamnkeli Ngam said following the Fudzudzi report, the department had tabled a report to the municipality with recommendations that had to be implemented.

But Ngcobo municipal manager Maxwell Moyo said while they had welcomed the Cogta report there were procedural matters to attend to.

“We had things that we had to correct before the [MEC’s] report could be adopted,” he said.