Samantha Graham-Maré

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) has serious concerns about the Expropriation Bill that is currently before Parliament. This Bill, for which public participation has been extended to 28 February 2021, contains sections that could disenfranchise owners of all types of property in South Africa, not just landowners or farmers. The Expropriation Bill has been a source of contention since its inception and has remained so through the many reviews and amendments through the years. Here … [Read more...] about Expropriation Bill poses serious threat to property ownership rights

dear MyPE Building operations have once again ceased at Lingcom Primary and Asherville Secondary schools in Graaff-Reinet after the Eastern Cape Department of Basic Education defaulted on payments to service providers. This is a trend that we have seen since the commencement of these projects more than three years ago. These projects should have been completed by now. Instead the projects drag on and have cost the Education Department around R20 million in unforeseen expenditure. … [Read more...] about Graaff-Reinet schools suffer due to Education Department’s financial woes

Dear MyPE The people of Hankey, in the Eastern Cape, were promised 1000's of jobs by the ANC government through the construction of the Sarah Baartman Remembrance Centre. Instead, five years down the line, the people have been saddled with a growing financial burden, as the costs have ballooned from R165 million to more than R200 million. Very little has come of the construction jobs for locals promised. The 134 full-time employment opportunities at the Centre, on project completion, are … [Read more...] about R200 million of the people’s money poured into incomplete Sarah Baartman Centre

Dear MyPE Thirteen years after promises of a much-needed upgrade by the Department of Public Works, the Humansdorp Magistrates Court still poses significant health and safety risks to all that enter there. Yesterday, 13 October 2020, I was joined by Sarah Baartman District Municipality Cllr Henni Britz in conducting an oversight inspection at the court and was shocked at its dilapidated state. (see pictures here, here, here and here) Plans to extend and secure this building have been in … [Read more...] about Minister De Lille must provide answers on dangerous Humansdorp Court

Dear MyPE The ongoing inability of the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality to address its sewage crisis can have a catastrophic impact on the underground water table in the area and decimate one of this drought-stricken Municipality’s most important water sources. Yesterday, 7 October 2020, DA Shadow Minister of Water and Sanitation, Leon Basson, MP, DA Eastern Cape Shadow MEC for Rural Development and Agrarian Reform, Retief Odendaal, MPL, and local councillors conducted oversight … [Read more...] about National government must intervene to save Dr Beyers Naude’s underground water resources

Dear MyPE Three towns in Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality are, once again, facing the threat of hours and hours of electricity supply interruptions by Eskom because the Municipality has failed to honour the last repayment plan agreed to. Residents in Steytlerville, Jansenville and Willowmore are horrified at the prospect of 6.5 hours without electricity a day for the first week, escalating to 14 hours a day from the second week, if there is no resolution. These power cuts will have a … [Read more...] about Dark days loom for Dr Beyers Naude

Dear MyPE The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be requesting an immediate national governmental investigation into allegations of fraud and corruption relating to the almost R20 million spent by the cash-strapped Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality (DBNLM) on its equalisation process. The equalisation process is designed to ensure salary parity for the staff of the smaller Ikwezi and Baviaans municipalities, following their amalgamation with the Camdeboo municipality in 2016, to form the … [Read more...] about National government must intervene in exorbitant Dr Beyers Naude Municipality spending

Dear MyPE In response to a Parliamentary question by my colleague, Adrian Roos MP, regarding the procurement process that was followed in the R37.2 million Beitbridge Border Post fence, Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia De Lille, once again absolves herself from any responsibility. Instead of answering the question directly, the Minister, in her usual fashion, hid behind responses such as the ”Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) provided [her] with the … [Read more...] about Minister De Lille scapegoats DPWI officials over Beitbridge Border Fence debacle

Dear MyPE The refusal by the Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality to supply water tankers to areas that are cut off from water due to today’s scheduled Eskom power outage is a violation of the basic human right to water. On 26 August the municipality issued a notice advising the communities of Graaff-Reinet, Aberdeen, Nieu-Bethesda and Klipplaat of an Eskom outage scheduled from 06h00 to 18h30 on 10 September 2019. On 4 September the Municipal Manager issued a second notice advising the … [Read more...] about Dr Beyers Naude water crisis referred to the SAHRC

Dear MyPE The Department of Basic Education in the Eastern Cape has seemingly pulled the plug on the rebuilding of Lingcom Primary School in Graaff-Reinet, midway through the job. See pictures attached here, here, here and here. This has left the learners of the school squeezed into temporary classrooms, with up to 114 learners in some combined classes. Construction on the new school buildings commenced two years ago following the demolition of almost half of the existing school. The new … [Read more...] about Lingcom Primary School construction site a danger to learners