BCM turns blind eye to lawlessness
Every day when I drive around East London and witness elements of lawlessness, I tend to wonder if our municipal manager and mayor ever read the articles published by the Dispatch.
In hindsight, I think it is sheer arrogance from them not to enforce the city by laws, or is it about following party orders and being popular?
Traffic officials are not visible on weekends as they are not paid overtime to do patrols.
Traffic violations in the CBD and Vincent Park remain unattended (“Traffic getting worse in Vincent, says business owner ”, DD, Nov 10).
The number of izinyoka in informal settlements is reaching alarming levels.
Innocent children have been electrocuted by this electricity theft.
What s BCM s solution — no wait, we are a stone s throw away from local government elections, let the majority vote us in again and then we can make promises to them again.
I would be ashamed to occupy a position in council while a city under my watch is deteriorating rapidly because we are more worried about power than service delivery.
— Burton Brown, Buffalo Flats
Services meltdown; ratepayers pay
It is shocking to read in the Daily Dispatch what is taking place in local municipalities, all at the expense of ratepayers who see little in return for their monthly rates.
Absolutely obscene salaries and benefits for very poor services rendered in return, and this does not just apply to Amathole district municipality but I am sure to Buffalo City Metro as well.
In Gonubie, there appears to be a complete meltdown of services and this suburb is in the worst state I have seen in decades.
Open spaces resemble the prairie, our main road, normally fairly well-maintained, is pockmarked with potholes continuing around Ocean Way, which has developed craters.
Christmas is just around the corner but fortunately I will not have to apologise to any visitors this year.
And a matter I am sure many ratepayers are concerned about: are funds being paid over to Eskom or is it being used to finance luxury vehicles and other perks?
— DJ Michau, via e-mail
Are there different rules for politicians?
Can someone explain some of the mind-boggling issues happening around our country.
Former president Jacob Zuma is the one who formed the state capture commission, albeit reluctantly so, and urged all to co-operate with the commission.
I believe he also set up the terms of reference.
Now, why does he see it as a witch-hunt targeting him, to the extent he cannot even ask for leave of the judge?
Second, former Nelson Mandela Bay Metro councillor Andile Lungisa has just been paroled after serving a fraction of his sentence.
My question is, have all other prisoners been considered or treated in the same way as Lungisa?
Is this a daily practice in our correctional facilities for everyone falling in the same situation as Lungisa?
— Zulu Skhomo, Butterworth
Keep our city clean to attract visitors
There is a house in Quigney with rubbish and long, uncut grass.
Can we not name and shame the property owners and tenants that take no responsibility for keeping the pavement s maintenance up?
Every day tenants drop refuse bags on the pavement and nothing seems to be done about it.
Please, we need to keep our neighbourhoods clean if we want to draw visitors to our beautiful city and not to the dump it is becoming.
— Lowisa, via e-mail
What ’ s BCM ’ s solution
— no wait, we are a stone ’ s throw away from local government elections, let the majority vote us in again and then we can make promises to them again