Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor The DA is pleased that our call for the deployment of national specialised crime fighting units to crime-ridden Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) is now under consideration by the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele. On 2 October 2023 I wrote to the Minister after six people were brutally murdered in one day in suspected gang killings in Nelson Mandela Bay. I requested his urgent intervention to deploy SAPS specialised resources to deal with the ongoing killings specifically in the … [Read more...] about Cele considering specialised units for NMB

Dear Editor More must be done to safeguard Eastern Cape road users this festive season. The provincial roads are in a terrible state. They are pothole-ridden and crumbling, road markings are unpainted, and signage is either severely faded or simply missing! No wonder our roads account for so many fatal road accidents. The province relies heavily on these roads for economic activity, especially during this period, when there is an influx of tourists, both international and from other … [Read more...] about More must be done to safeguard our road users this festive season

Dear Editor Girls as young as ten were part of a cohort of 553 children under the age of 14 who fell pregnant and gave birth in the Eastern Cape during the 2022/2023 financial year. These shocking revelations were made by Health MEC, Nomakosazana Meth, in response to parliamentary questions from the Democratic Alliance. Even more shocking is that despite the exceptionally high number of underage pregnancies and births recorded, the Health Department’s Thuthuzela Centres have only … [Read more...] about Over 550 girls under 14 gave birth in Eastern Cape in the last financial year

Dear Editor If one can honestly analyse the self-paralysis of the Eastern Cape, it is primarily based on our mindless jealousy for each other as we are definitely not bereft of great expansionary ideas; even with our albeit minimal natural minerals being left untouched. Just take a cursory look at our ill-thought stratagems like the bigotry and seemingly vendetta-driven name changes of Gqeberha & Kariega, enticement and killing of e-hailing services' drivers, extortion namely 'protection … [Read more...] about Jealousy Inc.

Dear Editor The last six months of 2023, under an ANC/EFF/NA/PA coalition government, will go down in history as the most destructive ever in Nelson Mandela Bay. Since Mayor Gary van Niekerk and his corrupt coalition took over the government of the Metro on 26 May 2023 service delivery failure and financial instability have been rife. This has crippled the municipality rendering it incapable of performing some of its most basic functions. Service delivery directorates have failed across … [Read more...] about The Most Destructive Coalition Government in History

Dear Editor The Health Ombud Prof Taole Mokoena’s report on the death of Zenizole Vena, the 15-year-old girl who tragically died in September last year at the Motherwell police station after escaping her alleged rapists, is a step in the right direction. The DA requested the Health Ombud to investigate allegations that two nurses at the Motherwell Clinic in Gqeberha failed to provide her with the necessary care before referring her to the local police. The Health Ombud has found that the … [Read more...] about Motherwell nurses failed Zenizole Vena

Dear Editor The DA will be writing to the Auditor-General (AG) to highlight the mind-blowing expenses incurred by the struggling ANC/EFF-governed Sarah Baartman District Municipality during the 2022-2023 financial year Financial reports tabled at a council meeting last month highlighted the shocking state of a dysfunctional administration. The municipality’s internal audit committee reported to council that R1 million was spent on overseas travel by the executive mayor, his mayoral … [Read more...] about Sarah Baartman Municipality’s mind blowing wasted millions – Garden Equipment for Non Existent Gardens

Dear Editor As Ivan Goncharov put it simply in his captivating Oblomov novel :- "All rogues write authentically - take my word for it.", yours truly is therefore often under-estimated for his insight and over-estimated in his age group when it comes to his cursory and layman interpretation of politics. In a nut shell, I am often confronted by albeit no-readers, let alone non-researchers, that annoyingly accuse me of being a Democratic Alliance [DA] or, in their parlance, a 'White People's … [Read more...] about Rogue One

Dear Editor State capture in Nelson Mandela Bay under mayor Gary van Niekerk and his corrupt and inept coalition of corruption government, has reached new heights with a blatant refusal to implement directives from the Minister of Finance regarding the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA) More than three months have passed since the Nelson Mandela Bay Council decided to dissolve the board of the MBDA and court proceedings were instituted to set aside the appointment of its CEO Anele Qaba. … [Read more...] about Minister Godongwana must intervene in Nelson Mandela Bay state capture

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) can today reveal that the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality received an unqualified audit opinion for the 2022/2023 financial year – this is the first time in more than a decade that the Metro received an unqualified report after 11 consecutive qualified audit opinions. The Auditor-General gave this thumbs up opinion on the financial management of the DA and its coalition partners who governed the City for more than two thirds of the financial year in … [Read more...] about NMB to receive an Unqualified Audit after more than a decade of qualified opinions

Dear Editor According to my experience and observation, I have noticed a pattern that education has never increased anyone's Intelligence Quotient [IQ], albeit embellishing it [making someone seem smart] due to their very own fortitude to acquire some venerated qualification anyway. Otherwise, the South African economy and society at large would have been greatly improved for the past 29 years of democracy if education on its own was the silver bullet to our problems. To cut a long story … [Read more...] about I Write What I Like

Dear Editor The DA in the Eastern Cape has written to Premier Oscar Mabuyane to request his urgent intervention to avoid the worst effects of the national ports crisis on the economy of the Eastern Cape. Many ships carrying containers are currently bypassing Eastern Cape ports due to the delays experienced at other ports in order to avoid the additional costs of stopping at our ports. This is forcing more freight destined for our province onto the road and into the air resulting in the … [Read more...] about Mabuyane must take urgent action to rescue EC from ports crisis

Dear Editor Tomorrow, 25 November 2023, South Africa launches 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children while many of our women and children in the Eastern Cape are casualties of a sexual violence war raging in the province. The South African Police Service (SAPS) crime statistics for the second quarter of 2023 (July – September 2023) tells the harrowing story of the Eastern Cape as the rape capital of South Africa. There were 1,655 cases of rape opened across the … [Read more...] about The fight on behalf of women and children in sexual violence war

Dear Editor The continued failure by the ANC-led Makana Municipal Council to address the dire financial situation within the municipality and to improve service delivery for its residents is evidenced by the latest correspondence from National Treasury. Apparently considered at a special council meeting on 13 November 2023, the letter requires the Makana Municipality to repay more than R60 million in unused conditional grants, which were not spent timeously and for which the municipality … [Read more...] about Dissolve the Makana Council

Dear Editor The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Eastern Cape is saddened to learn about the passing of Dr Tertius Delport and we would like to extend our sincerest condolences to his family and friends. Dr Delport was born in Humansdorp in the Eastern Cape and made a significant contribution to South Africa’s political landscape post 1994. He was a founding member of the DA and the deputy chairperson of the DA’s Federal Council, a respected attorney and a Dean of the Faculty of Law at … [Read more...] about RIP Dr Tertius Delport