retief odendaal

Dear Editor Nelson Mandela Bay mayor, Gary van Niekerk is in the process of appointing former NMB Executive Director, Anele Qaba, as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Mandela Bay Development Agency (MBDA), a municipal entity. Qaba has previously been accused of serious misconduct and he left the municipality after an out of court settlement was reached as a result of a botched disciplinary process. [Editor: Anela Qaba was officially announced earlier today. See: Anele Qaba – New MBDA … [Read more...] about Van Niekerk appoints infamous ex-Director as MBDA Chief Executive

Dear MyPE Premier Oscar Mabuyane is the Mad Hatter at the Magwa tea party, dishing out hundreds of millions of taxpayers’ rands to produce some of the most expensive tea in the world. Not only has Premier Mabuyane used taxpayers’ money with wilful abandon to produce the tea, he also wants provincial government departments and local municipalities to use even more taxpayers’ money to buy the tea produced. If anything, Magwa should be providing tea to government free of charge, … [Read more...] about Mabuyane: The Mad Hatter at the Magwa tea party

Dear MyPE Nelson Mandela Bay is currently in the grip of a devastating drought, that has seen the combined dam levels supplying the Metro drop below 20%. Despite this, the previous ANC-led Coalition of Corruption, failed to spend conditional grants given to the city for drought mitigation measure, totalling R188 million rand, during its two years in government from 2018 to 2020. National Treasury has subsequently refused to roll over these funds. A capable state would never have … [Read more...] about Fight on for release of Nelson Mandela Bay drought funding

Dear MyPE Nearly 10 months after the first allegations of fraud, corruption and collusion in the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, not a single company that acted as a supplier to the Eastern Cape government has been blacklisted. Despite Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s firm commitment that his government will take a hard line against Covid-19 corruption, he has been unable to charge a single person criminally or prevent delinquent service … [Read more...] about EC Government has still not acted against PPE corruption

Dear MyPE Premier Oscar Mabuyane must immediately intervene and address the problems in the Inxuba Yethemba Municipality, which is on the brink of collapse under an inept and corrupt administration. Yesterday violent service delivery protests flared up again, with residents cutting off all access to Cradock. Late last year service protests in Cradock and Middelburg claimed the lives of two people, saw several vehicles set alight and caused millions of rands in damages. The Premier … [Read more...] about Premier must intervene in Inxuba Yethemba Muncipality

Dear MyPE The latest bout of loadshedding is another devastating blow to Eastern Cape farmers, who are dependent on Eskom electricity supply to pump water for their irrigation needs. Some Eastern Cape farmers have already had their water allocations severely cut by the Department of Water Affairs, while others have also had to ration their own water supplies, due to the unprecedented drought conditions that have prevailed across the province for years. Farmers ordinarily are allocated … [Read more...] about Loadshedding devastating blow to EC farmers

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) has demanded that both Eastern Cape Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform (DRDAR) and Co-operative Government and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) appear before SCOPA to account for their actions in the mishandling of the ongoing drought crisis. A capable state would have put a co-ordinated, inter-departmental rapid response task team together. This would ensure that the necessary support is provided to those in crisis, to mitigate the worst … [Read more...] about East Cape Government must account for poor handling of drought crisis

Dear MyPE The Eastern Cape Provincial Government was dealt a R3,476 billion blow during the Provincial Adjustments Budget tabled in the Eastern Cape Legislature today, which was cut from the province’s equitable share for compensation of employees from national government. MEC of Finance, Mulungisi Mvoko announced that the huge cut in employee funding had been offset, in part, by dipping into the Province’s financial reserves to the tune of R2 billion. This is a case of the province … [Read more...] about Eastern Cape Govt dealt a R3,476 billion blow to budget

Editor: When Being Vegan Just Makes Sense and Saves Cents Dear MyPE R43-million of taxpayers’ money has been invested into a failed dairy farm project in Port St Johns, in the Eastern Cape, that currently produces just 350 litres of milk a day. The Mantusini Dairy project was established on 373 hectares of communal land in Ward 7 in the Port St Johns Local Municipality and should benefit some 500 individual households under communal tenure. Instead, it is has become a shining example … [Read more...] about Holy Cow! R43 Million for just 350 litres of milk a day

Dear MyPE Just five ambulances. That is all Komani, Cradock and Middelburg have to rely on in a medical emergency. Five ambulances that have to cover 3,813km2, an area one and a half times the size of the city of Cape Town. This has resulted in the average response time for towns such as Cradock and Middelburg being up to an hour for priority level one calls, for people whose lives are under threat, after the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) was centralised to Komani. The DA recently … [Read more...] about Komani EMS in crisis, putting lives at risk

Dear MyPE Despite the recent rains, there has been little improvement in the dam levels across the Eastern Cape, and the provincial government seems to have no long term plans in place to address the challenges that the ongoing drought has brought. Farmers are buckling under the immense pressure of an ongoing drought that has seen the national Department of Water Affairs slash water extraction rates for agricultural use. Across the province, dam levels are lower than a year ago, and the … [Read more...] about EC Drought Summit needed, as rains have little effect on dam levels