Keep it clean
The bank against which Sassa filed a criminal case for illegal deductions has come back fighting. The trouble is, in its bid to be seen to be right, it is sounding absurd. Quoted in News24, the bank concerned says it is very sensitive to the plight of grant recipients. Their spokesperson highlights their right of access to financial services as well as protection from unscrupulous industry participants.
The spin is so contorted it’s Kafka – when actually all you want is a straightforward Dickens villain you can understand. The Scrooge analogy may be slightly funny but undermining the very system that was built to relieve the plight of the poorest of the poor and lift a large part of our population out of hopelessness isn’t funny.
Asking big business to respect socialist projects – or even just social welfare systems – is like asking a cat to have a bath.
This week 1976 Soweto uprising veteran Seth Mazibuko said South Africa’s new struggle is for ethical leadership – and that’s definitely not something that only politicians should take note of.
This week several Council portfolio committee meetings took place. We’ll report in more detail on them, but among the items arising was that the Presidential Infrastructure Co-ordinating Commission is due to visit Grahamstown on Tuesday following a complaint about our infrastructure via the Presidential Hotline.
And funding has been allocated to tar the road to Alicedale – one of the grievances cited in last year’s protests in the town.
Repairs on roads in Grahamstown dug up to replace water pipes are finally looking like they might be restored to use by the time the National Arts Festival starts on 30 June.
The joint effort by Makana Municipality, the Grahamstown Business Forum and the Grahamstown Residents’ Association has seen the green clean team move through New Street, High Street and now into Bathurst Street, picking up rubbish, cleaning gutters and cleaning pavements and streets.
This town knows how to put on a show – and this weekend it’s K-Day – the annual sporting event between Grahamstown's private schools – St Andrew’s and DSG, with Kingswood hosting all three over 110 matches.
Causing amazement earlier this week was the arrival of a 30-seater plane on the Grahamstown airstrip. It was bringing a large group of K-Day supporters from up-country.
It’s been a while since anything has been said about the plan to get a regular scheduled air service here. Seeing as people are using the facilities anyway, surely it’s time to formalise something.