The IDP is definitely your business

It is that time of year which requires active citizenship, with Ndlambe mayor Khululwa Ncamiso currently conducting the 2022/2023 Integrated Development Plan (IDP) and Budget Mayoral Imbizo Programme on local radio station Ndlambe FM 99.0.

Of course, you do not have to be a politician to be an active citizen but being politically aware should be every resident’s responsibility, as this will help us hold our local leaders and political parties accountable for the decisions they take that affect our lives.

Decisions taken at the council meetings affect every resident, young and old, rich or poor.

When there is no water, we all feel the pinch.

Parents find it difficult to perform house chores and other home duties. Pupils struggles to wash their school uniforms and bath in the mornings.

Business people and investors lose their appetite to run businesses in a town where there is no water and raw sewage spillages are the order of the day.

Who suffers the most? It is the unemployed – and even the employed stand a chance of losing their jobs if businesses prefer to operate elsewhere.

That’s why it is so important to have your say at every opportunity.

It’s up to you (and your elected councillors of course) to see that the 2022/ 2023 Integrated Development Plan speaks to the conditions around you as a citizen – whether it is in touch with the realities around you, and is a true reflection of what Port Alfred’s communities really need.

Our town has a long-standing situation of sewage often flowing onto the streets of the town, as well as in townships.

Faulty street lights in some townships have escalated crime.

It feels like yesterday when in last year’s IDP programme, Ncamiso launched a scathing attack on her ANC ward councillors, saying they must be proactive with minor things – like no working street lights – before residents took the issues to the streets.

We wait with eager anticipation as to how this year’s IDP is going to be different from last year’s, as we are still haunted by the same ghosts of the water crises and sewage spills on streets.

We acknowledge the municipality ’ s efforts to address the issue of sewage – we saw sewage pumps being changed last year – but we still experience the same thing.

We have seen the municipality making serious efforts to fix the water crisis since 2018 – but some areas still have no water, and those residents may not be on the streets, but they often vent their frustration on our social media platforms.

I hope this year’s figures on paper will not be lip service, but will fix the issues on the ground for the betterment of our holiday town.

I hope active and concerned residents will start asking the right questions.

Copies of the draft IDP and budget are lodged at the Port Alfred Library.

While you’re there, look at the wonderful work that the Port Alfred Ratepayers and Residents Association has done in the surrounding park.