Handouts instead of jobs…

The ANC in Buffalo City Metro’s idea of economic development is to plough millions of rands into projects and co-operatives that have not produced any real returns or sustainable jobs. This is not to say that there is no place for co-ops and other small business models within our city, but the local economic development function of a municipality must be about creating an environment conducive for business, not funding or running businesses under the auspices of the municipality. As an example, Buffalo City Metro has spent millions of rands in setting up hydroponic tunnel farming in Mdantsane, through a co-op that has some 20 to 30 members from the community working on site with a “mentor” (who is paid for by the city) to transfer skills to these community members in order for the project to become self-sustainable. Needless to say after a few years, this project is still not financially viable and the “mentor” reports that this project will take many more years to become self-sufficient. This ultimately means that the city and the rate payers will be footing the bill for this project for some time to come to keep it a float.

The Democratic Alliance’s vision of economic development and job creation is to create an environment within our city where private sector investors and businesses have confidence in our city and its infrastructure to expand or open new businesses and provide long-term decent employment.BuffaloCitycould be fast tracking the implementation of a CID (City Improvement District) – a model that has been implemented across the country, but has been most successful in the City ofCape Town, where, in a period of under 5 years, the CBD was turned around to become the bustling business and entertainment hub that it is today.

Simple measures such as ensuring regular maintenance of street lights and pothole repairs, and more significant interventions like proper planning and infrastructure services would go a long way to attracting investment. Alas, we are faced with a planning department where applicants (business) wait up to 5 years to have the rezoning of land approved or up to a decade for much needed sewerage or road infrastructure to be budgeted for (Gonubie Main Road is a perfect example).Who knows when BCMM will be able to implement something as simple as keeping the 15 or so streets that make up our CBD clean?

Wake up BCMM leaders and officials! If you can’t deliver the most basic of services, how can we expect you to create jobs?

DA Councillors Deliver their Own Services…

Ward Councillors were today (13 September 2011) called to a meeting with the Roads Department of Buffalo City Metro. After much media exposure about the state of our roads, that currently have more potholes than road surface remaining this 2 hour debate left us as Councillors with this information.

Of the R4.5 Billion (not million but Billion) budget for the current financial year the Roads Department have been allocated a sum of R15.6 million about 0.35% of the total budget to repair and maintain our roads in the whole of Buffalo City Metro from Kwelera to Chulumna to Mdantsane and Dimbaza through East London and KWT. Let us put that into perspective, we are informed that within BCMM there are more than 1500kms of tarred road at today’s cost of around R1million per kilometre we are looking at more than R1.6 Billion to replace the whole network of roads excluding all the gravel roads. We are also told that this entire network of roads has long passed its 20 year lifespan.

So where does it leave us as Elected Councillors and Rate Payers of Buffalo City? Basically with the status quo as it stands, with deteriorating roads resembling some of the finest patchwork quilts I have ever seen and not enough budget to even fill those potholes. Hence why I and Cllr Thompson left that meeting to go and purchase bags of our own premix tar and went to see just how hard it is to fill a pothole. Needless to say it took us 30 minutes with little equipment and plenty enthusiasm filled some potholes in Beacon Bay that had been ruining vehicles for weeks.

Are our roads Car-worthy?

If you haven’t noticed the sorry state of our roads in Buffalo City, then you have clearly been out of town for the past 2 months. Granted, we had 2 severe floods just weeks apart which resulted in a lot of road damage. As elected Ward Councillors I, and my colleagues, sprang into action shortly after and reported the flurry of potholes across our city. About two weeks later, I again drove every street in my ward, only to report the very same potholes once more. Needless to say they had not been fixed.

This led me to start sending slightly more forceful emails, including ever more senior officials to see whether this matter could be expedited! After weeks of sending emails, that eventually resulted in a mass email sent on 22 Aug 2011, to a list including the Municipal Manager, Mayor, Speaker, Portfolio Councillor, Executive Director and the Director. Almost 10 days later I have not even received an acknowledgement of receipt. Should I, as an elected Councillor in this municipality, not even get a reply to urgent matters, what kind of feedback and response do average ratepayers receive? I assume none.

To add insult to injury, after many phone calls and investigation I have learnt from senior officials in BCMM that there was NO asphalt available to fill the potholes until recently, and that the workers were on strike. Worst of all, the tender for the private contractor BCMM had used in the past to alleviate the backlog has not been renewed. This tender expired at the end of July2011, leaving a massive gap in service delivery to ratepayers at large. Tenders typically take from 3 to 6 months to initiate and implement.

So where does this leave us as ratepayers in BCMM, with gaping holes in our roads that damage our vehicles? We are expected by law to license our vehicles and ensure that they are roadworthy, but I must question those same authorities at BCMM: Are our roads car-worthy?