Left empty-handed by TRC process

IREAD “Forgotten by the state: apartheid’s uncompensated thousands” (May 24) with a heavy heart. was born in New Brighton, Port Elizabeth. I am one of the thousands who still grieve for their missing family members. The family member in question is my dear father, Mr Mongameli “Mobbs” Gqirana, who disappeared in February 1983.

My father spent 13 years on Robben Island as one of many incarcerated political activists in the early ’60s. He was incarcerated before my birth and I spent many years of my life without a father, only to meet him in my early teens.

As he was still active in politics, he went to Lesotho, in early February 1983, for a political meeting, never to return. He disappeared at the Maseru border on his way back home.

Like many victims of these common cases, it still is very painful not to know how a member of the family passed on. These are the scars that we bear in our lives. I, along with my family, have been without closure for 32 years now.

We had hoped to receive answers from the consultation processes of Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I and my brother, an Umkhonto weSizwe veteran who was exiled in Angola, came out emptyhanded. My family ended up without any answers. — Zukiswa NqoroNkhereanye, Cape Town

Heart goes out to mom

WHEN I read Safia Pillay’s story in “Hounded for damages after fatal crash” (May 24), I cried.

On May 7, I was involved in a similar accident in Pretoria, when the driver of a minibus taxi drove out of a security estate and rammed straight into me as I was driving my kids to school. The car was severely damaged, but my children escaped with minor injuries.

My advice is always ensure your kids are buckled up, no matter what. No safety belt, no trip.

My heart goes out to Safia, but let her know God will wipe away her tears. — Maggie, by e-mail

Compensation was in order

SAFIA Pillay’s ordeal over her motor car (whereby DaimlerChrysler sued her for R145 000) highlights the need for compulsory motor car insurance.

Her comment “and all Daimler wants is money” is uncalled for and smacks of “victim” mentality. I thought your article was way too sensational.

DaimlerChrysler suffered financial loss due to the accident and is fully entitled to seek compensation for its losses — whether or not it is a multibillion-rand company. If it had damaged Pillay’s car, she would have no compunction in seeking redress. — Tony Ball, by e-mail

Red tape will take its toll

“E-TOLLS will be a real change — not cosmetic” (May 24) by Cyril Ramaphosa refers.

My car was written off as “uneconomical to repair” in 2014 and OUTsurance paid the insurance money over to me.

At the beginning of 2015, due to the shambles in the postal service, I received an e-toll bill for that car (no longer mine), while it was driving on the N1 in August 2014. Clearly someone had decided to repair it and drove it without transferring it into their name.

I contacted OUTsurance and it paid the e-toll. I inquired about the course of action for me if I should receive another bill. The answer was: “Sanral said to ignore it.”

Now I have received another e-toll bill for the same vehicle, dated September 2014. Clearly I can’t just “ignore it”, as it may end up having financial implications for me.

So now I would like to know: are you going to try to load a debt, not incurred or owed by me, onto my licence in 2016? — Rhona Crawford, Krugersdorp North

Standing up to e-toll bullies

“BULLIED into e-tolls, we will not forget who fought dirty” (May 24).

Sorry, Redi, not many have been bullied into accepting the new e-tolling system. I think she missed Wayne Duvenage’s comments. The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance will go on fighting for the majority of citizens who do not have the extra fees while the petrol price soars.

Not all of us will hang on to the words of the buffalo-buying magnate. Gone are the days when we were all law-abiding. Some of us have shown civil disobedience as new laws are passed while civil servants carry on wasting billions. — Ayesha Ranchod, Lenasia

How to privatise Eskom

YOUR editorial “Private sector could switch on Eskom” (May 24), raised a spectre that the ruling party doesn’t want to address, but may have to.

That article gave the impression that Eskom is one entity that should be privatised, when in fact there are three components to the core business of Eskom: the generation division; the transmission division; and the distribution division.

It is these three divisions that, in my view, should be unbundled before privatisation can be considered.

It is unlikely that the private sector would want to invest in the generation division, as most of Eskom’s operating assets are very old, overutilised and undermaintained.

The transmission and distribution divisions, on the other hand, could be offered for privatisation with all their assets, which would form the nucleus of an independent system operator that would be owned by the investor. The operator would buy the electrical energy it required from many sources, and sell this energy to the nine categories of consumers that Eskom supplies at the moment.

The delicate day-to-day balancing of South Africa’s power demand against available generating sources, which currently involves protracted load-shedding, would also be part of the independent operator’s responsibilities.

Finally, the operator would analyse all the supply and demand data obtained from the system and project this information into the future. — John S Whybrow, Swellendam

Wit not e-wasted on COPE

OUR tongue-in-cheek release about the US Congress, Congress of the People and e-waste found purchase with Hogarth, “A congress in fake congress” (May 24) and got some very necessary publicity in the Sunday Times, not for us, but for the extremely serious issue of e-waste.

We will take the barb and the lampooning by Hogarth any Sunday in exchange for letting us put the issue of e-waste so prominently in the public domain. Thank you. — Mosiuoa Lekota, COPE president

The right to choose a school

CHRIS Barron’s So Many Questions with Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi (May 24) refers.

Parents have the democratic right to choose which schools their children attend. Economics, not race, determine their choice! A good exercise would be to determine how many of our politicians’ children and grandchildren attend the former “Model C” and private schools. This is my challenge to the MEC.

I am almost 70. I was born in the colonial era, and grew up and worked during the apartheid era. I walked barefoot to school, studied under a paraffin lamp, and my father, a labourer, paid for my books and the school fees.

I am grateful for the dedication and positive motivation of the teachers in the then “government-aided” schools in the ’50s and ’60s in moulding my future. — Logan Govender, Verulam

Not on board with Scrabble

“GRR, Scrabble adds lotsa newb words” (May 24) refers. Scrabble dictionaries are an insult to language. They even contain the word “mallax” and various derivatives thereof. Go figure! — Alon, by SMS

Stop and smell the trees

I LOVE nature and to have read the article by Claire Keeton (May 24) was wonderful. “Some people sit under trees, others barely notice them.” To me, nature and her amazing trees are life to us all. Let’s take a moment to appreciate what we have. — Kelly Matthee, Boksburg

Student terror slur baseless

“STUDENTS’ decolonisation of varsities has only just begun” (May 24) refers. University of Cape Town honours students Rekgotsofetse Chikane and Jessica Breakey claim “. . . senior management at Rhodes University at a conference on how to transform the curriculum . . . went so far as to compare our actions to terrorist cells in Cambodia and perpetrators of the Rwandan genocide”.

This statement is untrue. No Rhodes management position has ever been discussed, agreed or represented in any private or public forum in relation to the Black Students Movement at Rhodes. Students are free to express themselves and continue to do so at Rhodes University.

The staff member, who is being grossly misrepresented, and who was speaking in a personal capacity, appealed to the conference to acknowledge the xenophobic attacks taking place at the time — and cautioned that rhetoric that divides can escalate quickly into violence, based on personal experience of working in Cambodia and Rwanda.

At no point did the staff member make any reference to the movement or terrorist cells or in any way link the two. — Catherine Deiner, media relations officer, Rhodes University

Showing Hogarth’s colours

COMRADE Hogarth, why is Athol Trollip’s whiteness such a threat to you while Danny Jordaan’s colouredness is so advantageous?

Despite your undoubted dislike of the DA and your infatuation with the ANC, Trollip speaks excellent Xhosa, while Jordaan’s brother disturbingly won a huge World Cup contract.

Clearly you support an ANC victory in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipal elections next year — please just don’t make it so obvious! — T Price, Port Elizabeth

Taxpayers fund ANC puffery

THE minister of transport placed an extravagant advert in last week’s Sunday Times, “The Road Accident Benefit Scheme Bill”. Inserted into this full-page spread was a section lauding decisions taken at the ANC’s last national conference.

This had little to do with the main thrust of the advert, which was to provide information about the restructuring of benefits for road accident victims. This conflation by the minister of the roles of government and party are of serious concern. Public funds must not be used for party political purposes.

It is likely that we will increasingly witness such unethical practices as the 2016 local government elections approach. The incumbency of office will again be abused to seek unfair electoral advantages and undermine the constitutional promise of free and fair elections. The Independent Electoral Commission needs to be alive to these practices. — Lawson Naidoo, Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution