Every day there is more and more evidence that our masters do not view themselves as accountable to citizens. There are two examples in the Mercury of October 28, 2008 which show that quite well.
The first example is local and has been mentioned in these pages before. The municipality has now declared that the report is too sensitive to be disclosed to the public. Deputy information officer Joseph David came out with that statement. Overpayments to security companies could hardly be a matter of national security and so, to my mind, there are only a few possible reasons why our employees (the municipality) should be refusing to publish a report on what happened to our money. I don't like the thiught of any of them.
The other story in the paper concerns a so-called blue-light incident in which motorists are forced off the road to make room for official motorcades. Over the years, motorists have been threatened with firearms and have, on a few occasions, been hauled out of their cars and beaten up. I have seen a couple of these convoys, which roar past at great speed past with tinted windows [surely illegal] and blue lights flashing. Never to my knowledge has anyone been brought to book for assault or intimidation or have the VIPs within been asked to account for the strongarm tactics and dangerous driving of their escorts.
The particular incident mentioned in the paper took place in Johannesburg and involved vehicles belonging to the presidential protection unit. The convoy consisted of at least six black vehicles led by two Johannesburg Metro Police Police vehicles. At least one of the officers in the convoy was seen brandishing his weapon at motorists. The president was out of the country and his deputy was not in Gauteng province. The head of the presidential protection unit, Tau Thekiso, would not say who was being driven in the convoy and Johannesburg metro police chief Wayne Minnaar apparently didn't know, in spite of the fact that his vehicles were escorting the convoy.
We will not have any sort of democracy until our officials are made to be accountable to us!
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Jet fuel woes
I will be creating a page on the main Facts About Durban website for our new airport at La Mercy but, in the meantime, there was an interesting story in the Sunday Tribune, of October 26, 2006, which states that there have been protests at plans to ship jet fuel from the refineries to the airport by road. The airport is apparently going to need a million litres of the stuff every day, which will take about 20 trips by road tanker, and cost between R40000 and R80000 per day to transport. Mind-boggling figures! There is the option to build a pipeline to deliver the fuel.
Mismanagement or corruption?
It was good news about the buses, as mentioned in the previous post, but the Sunday Tribune, of October 26, 2006, also carried a story to do with the episode that wasn't such good news. It turns out that the amount of government subsidy received by the Remant Alton bus company, and what it was spent on, is not open to public scrutiny. The Tribune apparently asked to see financial statements and the request was refused by Remant Alton and the municipality. There is suspicion in some quarters that the money has been misused and that there are people in bed with each other who should not be.
The ANC-appointed city manager Mike Sutcliffe dismissed such 'crazy claims' and said that there had been an oversight process. This is in spite of the fact that John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance caucus on the council, said that no Remant Alton financial statements had been presented to the EXCO in the last five years.
It seems pretty clear to me that there has to have been incompetance or dirty work at the cross roads but the really worrying bit is why city management is feeling the need to cover up. Are they involved? And how?
This is not the first episode mentioned in these pages which involves the municipality refusing to give us details about how our money is spent. They are actually our representatives and our employees and are supposed to be accountable to us, but they are not behaving in the least like it. Some democracy this is turning into.....
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The ANC-appointed city manager Mike Sutcliffe dismissed such 'crazy claims' and said that there had been an oversight process. This is in spite of the fact that John Steenhuisen, leader of the Democratic Alliance caucus on the council, said that no Remant Alton financial statements had been presented to the EXCO in the last five years.
It seems pretty clear to me that there has to have been incompetance or dirty work at the cross roads but the really worrying bit is why city management is feeling the need to cover up. Are they involved? And how?
This is not the first episode mentioned in these pages which involves the municipality refusing to give us details about how our money is spent. They are actually our representatives and our employees and are supposed to be accountable to us, but they are not behaving in the least like it. Some democracy this is turning into.....
.
Bus strike over !!!
The good news in the Sunday Tribune, of October 26, 2006, apart from KZN winning the rugby Currie Cup yesterday, is that the strike by bus drivers is finally over. The news was very unexpected and it isn't all together clear how the breakthrough came to be. The article is a bit confused, to my eyes at least, but it seems that a deal was brokered with the help of eThekwini ANC chairperson John Mchunu. It seems that a consultative forum to decide on the future of public transport in city is to established and that it is to include driver representation. More details when I get them.
I'm very glad that things are sorted and I hope that they stay that way. I am sympathetic to the drivers but feel that they could have played the game a bit better and kept essential services running. One of the papers last week reported that disabled people were among the ones to suffer most from the strike because their bus service was also suspended and minibus taxis don't have facilities for wheelchairs. Some disabled school pupils at sleep over at their schools for a time because the strike started after they were dropped off at school and the drivers didn't even pick them up again before knocking off work. I also know that senior citizens, dependent on the buses to get out from their retirement complexes to pay bills or whatever, have had a very hard time as well.
GUYS, YOU COULD HAVE DONE BETTER.
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I'm very glad that things are sorted and I hope that they stay that way. I am sympathetic to the drivers but feel that they could have played the game a bit better and kept essential services running. One of the papers last week reported that disabled people were among the ones to suffer most from the strike because their bus service was also suspended and minibus taxis don't have facilities for wheelchairs. Some disabled school pupils at sleep over at their schools for a time because the strike started after they were dropped off at school and the drivers didn't even pick them up again before knocking off work. I also know that senior citizens, dependent on the buses to get out from their retirement complexes to pay bills or whatever, have had a very hard time as well.
GUYS, YOU COULD HAVE DONE BETTER.
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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
DSW strike
A short article in the Mercury of October 21, 2008, says that DSW refuse workers currently working for agencies will be able to apply for full-time jobs with the municipality when positions are advertised later this year. Apparently, 25% of DSW are hired through agencies. Deputy city manager Derek Naidoo has apparently said that all agency workers would NOT automatically be hired. I hope this will not be the start of more trouble if the current temporary workers see other people getting employed.
In the meantime, I took a drive through the centre of Durban today and was struck by the fact that it looked quite a lot less filthy than usual. That's progress, I suppose.
On another topic, I don't know if it's my imagination but I have the feeling that deputy city manager Derek Naidoo is being quoted in the papers a lot more lately. In the past, Mike Sutcliffe rather dominated whenever city officials were quoted and it makes me wonder if there's something cooking behind the scenes.
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In the meantime, I took a drive through the centre of Durban today and was struck by the fact that it looked quite a lot less filthy than usual. That's progress, I suppose.
On another topic, I don't know if it's my imagination but I have the feeling that deputy city manager Derek Naidoo is being quoted in the papers a lot more lately. In the past, Mike Sutcliffe rather dominated whenever city officials were quoted and it makes me wonder if there's something cooking behind the scenes.
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