Please check your email and enter your one time pin below:   Open in Gmail Sorry there was an error loading the audio Sterkstroom residents in Enoch Mgijima municipality in the Eastern Cape will have spent three weeks without electricity Local businesses are counting the cost as there is no clarity on when the council will restore power to the town Sterkstroom businessperson Arman Khan said he has lost more than R20,000 and all the meat in his freezer had gone off.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads “We are struggling to pay rent and pay our employees It’s been a long 17 days for local businesses and we will take time to recover from this.” He said if electricity was not restored soon said their business involved highly perishable goods which needed constant and reliable electricity to keep the refrigerators running: “Meat is our core stock line — we had to destroy a substantial quantity of meat in this period since the power crisis hit us We have experienced an 80% loss in revenue to date and covering our operating expenses will be set far back Not to mention the negative impact this is having on the local economy.” Nqayi said they were trying to work with the government but the municipality was making it difficult for them to participate in the local economy Diminished Expectations? David Mabuza’s race for ANC deputy presidency hits Mpumalanga brick wall said the impact on Sterkstroom businesses of not having power for more than a fortnight was severe “The only business that is making money is the petrol and paraffin business in the town. Shopkeepers have lost thousands of rands worth of frozen stock,” she said.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads “It feels like no one is interested in helping us our business in this little town will be down the tubes Old people have lost so much in meat… where will they get the money to replace the lost meat?” she said said the power outage was caused when the oil in a transformer ran low The transformer requires 1,200 litres of oil to function Enoch Mgijima municipality spokesperson Lonwabo Kowa said the Sterkfontein transformer had been vandalised possibly with the intention of stealing cables “They drained out over 1,000 litres of oil and left the transformer out of order but the transformer was left in a bad state and now needs replacement A procurement process is under way,” he said They want all the documents which would include copies of the engineers’ report drawings and business plan for the project Independent councillor Ken Clark said they would argue that municipal manager Nokuthula Zondani acted beyond her legal powers when she awarded the contract and the project should be declared unlawful and set aside Speaking to Daily Maverick about the service delivery challenges in Komani Clark said that repairs to the 6.9km Fikile Gwadana road should not cost more than between R36-million and R40-million “We are approaching the courts as the tender was irregularly awarded You can’t go from R40-million to R98-million… you can go from R40-million to R45-million or something like that with contingencies — that can be acceptable,” he said The municipality is opposing the legal challenge In addition, the Public Protector is investigating the construction of the Lesseyton Stadium in Komani it has no running water or proper infrastructure CEO of soft drinks company Twizza and son of councillor Clark said the municipality was neither cutting costs nor improving on revenue collection despite these being the only ways to turn the situation around “We’ve been going on about this electrical problem since the account with Eskom was R40-million How can we just carry on talking and nothing happens?” said Clark He said a municipality with a budget of more than R1.2-billion was unable to even pay its Eskom account The Komani businessman said the sewage system in Enoch Mgijima was also in a state of collapse DA constituency leader Jane Cowley said sewage spills were common with residents saying their health is being affected the residents of Westbourne and Mlungisi are exposed to sewage which flows into the Komani River alongside them Some residents have to cross this river in order to get to their places of work.”   sewage was openly pumped from municipal sewage trucks into a dam alongside the village “This dam overflows into the Swart Kei River which is used for irrigation purposes downstream.”   She said the wastewater treatment works in Komani are being upgraded but the budget is far too small and the plant will become only partly functional “The water flowing from the works into the Komani River is currently effectively untreated. There are residents with the requisite skills to manage the plant effectively, provided the government upgrades the plant completely. However, no budget seems to be forthcoming.”advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Chris Hani District Municipality spokesperson Bulelwa Ganyaza blamed the sewage problem on theft and vandalism of council infrastructure Ganyaza said “theft and vandalism of municipal infrastructure affect the provision of water and sanitation services in the district “environmental waste management is non-existent and there are fires at the dumpsite on a regular basis which are illegal and are putting toxic gases into the air that residents around the dumpsite breathe in on a daily basis — it’s a contravention of human rights as far as I’m concerned.” Clark said domestic garbage wasn’t collected even though residents paid for the service “People are charged at the dumpsite to dispose of refuse while also paying for the services that are not rendered,” he said Komani resident Axolile Masiza agreed that refuse was not collected in Komani and residents were now dumping it everywhere Ezibeleni and Nomzamo location rubbish is now dumped on open land We are charged as ratepayers for refuse collection Ezibeleni resident Xolani Ngxatu said he lives behind the landfill and they are the most affected by the pollution “The smoke from the site comes into our houses and we breathe the polluted air every day I am an asthmatic person and the smoke affects me badly,” he said albeit with limited security personnel due to strained municipal finances “It is not safe to have the smoke coming from the landfill site into residences The holes in the fence have also created a situation where some items are blown out of the site into the open area He said the municipality is considering other options including more security personnel to guard the area facing Ezibeleni where intruders gain entry ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " Home | South Africa One person has died after a helicopter crashed into powerlines on a game farm in Sterkstroom near Komani in the Eastern Cape although it’s not clear how many people were in the helicopter at this stage Provincial Transport spokesperson Kuselwa Rantjie says police and emergency personnel have been dispatched to the scene of the crash “We have received as a department of transport reports regarding an aircraft that went down around Strekstroom this morning At this stage the details are still a little bit sketchy but police and emergency personnel are on the scene trying to comb the area for any clues It is reported that one person has died as a result of the crash At this stage we are not sure who the owner of the aircraft is or where it was coming from and going to We are still on the scene and investigating the matter.” This article may contain graphic and/or adult content unsuitable for minors and sensitive readers The fraud case against two men linked to the alleged unauthorised selling of Transnet railway lines continued in the Gqeberha Magistrates Court on Wednesday The State alleges that businessman Syed Mohiudeen of Spanish Ice Logistics and former Metrorail Regional Manager in the Western Cape defrauded the complaints out of R1,5 million It is alleged that the accused unlawfully and in the execution of a common purpose to defraud gave out and pretended to Adrian Samuels and Cedric Samuels that Mohiudeen had obtained the right to uplift and sell rail material in the Eastern- and Western Cape the two accused also allegedly brought Adrian and Cedric under the impression that they were entitled to authorise them to uplift the railway line between Sterkstroom and Maclear and to sell it to prospective buyers for their own account the former CEO of Akisisa testified that after several meetings and site visits with both accused they struck a deal for purchasing used railway lines in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape He said despite paying R1,5 million to uplift sections of used railway lines in the Western Cape the accused failed to deliver on its promises Numerous excuses were given as to why the accused could not deliver on their promises He further testified that Swartz later suggested a trip to the Eastern Cape to identify other rail material Based on this premise Adrian and Cedric assembled a team to uplift the railway line between Sterkstroom and Maclear storage facilities and plant and equipment tools They were stopped in their tracks by Transnet security after 42 000 meters of railway line had already been uplifted an exclusive podcast on the life of Vicki Terblanche Dive into the expansive world of motoring with Naresh Maharaj Join Mark Marshall as he shares his extraordinary encounters with everything from bees to reptiles i ‘Properly managed, the energy transition will benefit all,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa in his fourth State of the Nation Address Driven by climate change-related imperatives and spluttering South Africa is moving quickly to add hundreds of megawatts of cleaner renewable energy capacity to its energy mix From an industrial-sized laundry machine that has sat idle for years a sports programme that was condemned to failure from the outset to a pigsty that was never to be — these and other projects are unfortunate examples of how small towns and their residents — supposed beneficiaries of South Africa’s broader energy transition — can often be misled and sold false promises Expensive machinery like this industrial washing machine stands idle at the Laundromat in Molteno This is the story of Molteno, Sterkstroom and the Dorper Wind Farm, which might serve as a cautionary tale about the things that could go wrong in far-flung towns during the country’s nascent green energy transition.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads It was just wasted on unsuccessful projects.” This is according to Mamoso May, CEO of the Dorper Wind Farm speaking after residents at a 2021 stakeholder engagement meeting raised the issue of money spent on enterprise development projects This remains wholly unpalatable to many locals who have since told Our Burning Planet that the operations and methods of the Dorper Wind Farm and its subcontractors have left them hundreds of thousands of rands in the red while others note that few of the wind farm’s interventions have ended in success and meaningful impact on the community Mamoso said “a list of projects is available as well as how much has been spent on each project” residents who spoke to Our Burning Planet alleged that the Dorper Wind Farm has been opaque and has operated in a paperless environment so as to obfuscate its financial misconduct Requests by both Our Burning Planet and residents to see this “list of projects” have been met with silence or otherwise ignored by May and Dorper Wind Farm employees The Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (IPPPP) office in the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy describes these requirements as “an important focus” of the IPPPP aimed at ensuring the build programme “secures sustainable value for the country and enables local communities to benefit directly from the investments attracted into the area” “Bid obligations are structured into seven categories enterprise development and socioeconomic development [Independent power producers] are required to contribute towards Enterprise Development and Socioeconomic Development initiatives in their respective communities These contributions are spent in areas such as education social welfare and enterprise development.” According to the Department of Mineral Resources independent power producers had contributed more than R578.8-million and R1.9-billion towards enterprise development and socioeconomic development initiatives It said the economic development commitments are regulated through the implementation agreement between the department and the independent power producers, adding that “the threshold commitment for socioeconomic development spend is 1% of revenue”.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads This has not gone as planned in the case of Molteno and Sterkstroom Our Burning Planet has seen a number of documents related to the Dorper Wind Farm and its engagements with the relevant communities In addition to its official “Information Session Minutes” our engagements with residents and an analysis of a trove of documents raised several red flags in 2020 Dorper Wind Farm CEO May visited Molteno and Sterkstroom where she realised there was a gulf between “what was happening on the ground versus what was reported to Dorper.” As a result Dorper decided to replace LifeCo Unltd – a company hired to implement its enterprise development and socioeconomic development projects because Dorper lacked in-house capacity – with another service provider called KD Strategies Many of the unsuccessful projects had been overseen by LifeCo May is recorded as having said that “due to not having enterprise development agreements in place with those contracted service providers Dorper thought were the experts there is no legal president [sic] to hold them accountable for any of the money spent.” May went on to cite the example of a dry cleaner “who was paid R760,000 for dry-cleaning machinery which has to date not worked due to the lack of a three-phase electricity connection”.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads told this reporter that the notion that May’s contention that she only became aware of the challenges once on the ground was a distortion of the truth In a letter to the chairperson and director of the Dorper Wind Farm Pillai explains that “Dorper/the CEO pre-approved the development plans (projects) and the activity budget – and only upon approval would Dorper transfer the necessary funds” and “any payment exceeding R50 000 was approved by Dorper/the CEO before payment was made” among others but just seven months into a multiyear agreement with Dorper its contract was terminated because the wind farm management wanted to engage with the community directly This is despite some community members saying KD was “doing a good job” The decision to end the contract early is now the subject of an arbitration process through interviews and trawling available documents begun to draw up a list of projects the Dorper Wind Farm has funded Outside a dilapidated building housing the town’s laundromat a sign proudly reads: “Dorper Wind Farm.” From outside the smell of laundry detergent wafts from filled bathtubs and the tell-tale signs of construction are all over the building a large Maestrelli 350-P dry-cleaning machine sits in the middle of the room told Our Burning Planet about her disappointment with the Dorper Wind Farm Expensive machinery like this industrial washing machine stands idle at the laundromat in Molteno “the service provider that was here said we can’t use the machine here because our electricity is two-phased Dorper must buy a transformer for us so that we have our own transformer here And Dorper said they are taking a machine to Pretoria “I went to Komani to buy a small machine and a dryer I am waiting for the machine to go so that I can use my own machine They broke the wall and had to [re]build it and they are going to break it again to take the machine out “Dorper did nothing good in Molteno,” she said Our Burning Planet has seen a letter of intent signed on 23 January 2021 by May which given that the equipment has remained unused since 2016 it is in the best interest of the project that Dorper Wind Farm take possession of the equipment that are currently in your possession We will also be taking possession of the chemicals — in order to safely [dispose] thereof.”  the machine still takes up room in the laundromat you see no millions… here we don’t have what you call… a youth centre Dorper [was] supposed to build a youth centre “So for me as… a man that is doing… a lot of things… because I can even teach children like drama ballroom and Latin America [dancing] and all those things you understand… to bring the youth back [but] where are we going to go here Amos Jikijela has a dream to provide low-cost meat to the residents of Molteno and says while the assistance from Dorper Wind Farm is good it isn’t enough to turn his dream into reality was one of the people who initially thought Dorper’s intervention in the town would be a good thing “Dorper initially came here and painted themselves as good messiahs.” He said he approached the Dorper Wind Farm with a proposal to build a pigsty as his butchery would be able to sell pork Given assurances that he would be supported “It affected my health badly,” said Jikijela explaining that when the Dorper Wind Farm and its subcontractors abruptly withdrew their support he was seen as a liar and purveyor of false hope to a hope-starved community he sits in his office a step away from fridges supplied by the Dorper Wind Farm bare and without much to show despite being promised substantial support Liana van Lill with unused sporting equipment Liana van Lill’s life has been made measurably worse by one of the farm’s “unsuccessful projects” Representatives of the Dorper Wind Farm “approached me last year [2021] to do a movement programme at the primary schools in Molteno and Sterkstroom After the proposal was approved we started implementing the programme at the schools [at the] end of August “Despite the fact that the programme was still in its early stages in December and after various discussions about the holidays even before the programme started and the schools that were very satisfied with the programme and the efforts made Dorper Wind Farm started withholding payments This is the only income for nine rural ladies who worked with me as coaches The contract was for a six-month trial period but they cut it short by not paying from December (after only four months) We can not afford lawyers to approach them,” said Van Lill “Dorper is now trying to discredit us by saying we are in breach and that we owe them money but we have all the hard evidence to prove otherwise Dorper Wind Farm owes Bounce & Move [Van Lill’s company] a total of R260,846.50,” she said Asked to respond to the various allegations and to provide the aforementioned documents that detail the successes and failures of the Dorper Wind Farm’s projects May said she was “somewhat perplexed about the questions raised” referring to the minutes in which she is quoted as saying money had not been stolen addresses most of the questions raised,” said May While the wind farm may have failed in many respects to uplift the community to the degree it had promised The project created 229 jobs for South African citizens during construction offset more than 486,928 tons of CO2 as of March 2016 Ramaphosa, in announcing his “energy action plan” recently said the government would double the amount of new generation capacity procured through Bid Window 6 for wind and solar power from 2,600MW to 5,200MW As South Africa accelerates its pivot into a post-fossil fuel epoch the inhabitants of these communities and their doleful stories can be seen as a warning about how things can go wrong in the remote sun- and wind-resource-rich corners of the country Disclosure: This story was amended to reflect the comment received from LifeCo and Pat Pillai The paragraph “Our Burning Planet sought a response from LifeCo but is yet to receive one.” has been removed The government’s renewable energy programme to promote power generation (REIPPP) incorporates several features designed to ensure that local communities benefit from the activities of independent power producers (IPPs) One is that IPPs are required to spend a percentage (typically between 1% and 2,5%) of their annual revenues on programmes promoting social and economic development (SED) in the local community Another is that local communities must participate in the ownership of independent power producers (IPPs) the vehicle chosen for that participation is a community trust with the local community as its nominated beneficiary Dividends received by the community trust from its IPP should be used for projects and initiatives which uplift the community The sad reality – 10 years after the launch of the REIPPPP – is that there are very few examples of local communities which have benefitted meaningfully from SED spend by IPPs or their community trusts There are many factors contributing to this sorry state of affairs IPPs are businesses which construct and then operate complex renewable energy plants; they are seldom equipped to design and implement programmes which will uplift local communities And at least some of them view their SED obligations as a requirement of their licences to operate few of them have delivered on their potential to become co-investors in the development processes of their communities this is because the community trust is saddled with debt incurred in order to acquire its stakes in the IPP the community trust lacks the capacity and expertise to make good use of whatever money is at its disposal there are instances where community trusts are seen as merely serving the interests of their IPPs and as a result have failed to gain the trust of their communities Dorper Wind Farm seems to have fallen victim to one or more of these challenges It noticeable that not one of the categories in the ‘bid obligations’ include skill They are but low hanging fruit for shysters and crooks were a “source of disinformation” and “had greater interest in achieving targeted spend per year and earning BEE and compliance points — than meaningful human development.” Our Burning Planet previously reported that R56-million meant to uplift the rural Eastern Cape communities of Molteno and Sterkstroom near the Dorper Wind Farm (DWF) has been “wasted on unsuccessful projects” according to May Read more in Daily Maverick: “R56m destined for Eastern Cape wind farm beneficiaries ‘wasted’ on failed projects” a beneficiary of the Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (IPPPP) is mandated to spend a certain portion of its revenue on economic development and socioeconomic development projects The programme is one way in which the South African government as a signatory of the Paris climate agreement is attempting to transition to a low-carbon economy in line with climate imperatives But community members alleged that DWF and its contracted partners failed to make significant inroads and left a trail of broken promises and financial devastation In the DWF minutes of a meeting that took place on 21 May 2021 the CEO started to visit the communities more often and engage with individuals on the ground it was realised that there was a mismatch between what was happening on the ground versus what was reported to Dorper The reports indicated that all projects were working well and that there were no issues within the community Large gaps were however identified during these engagements and that money has been wasted Dorper decided to appoint another service provider…” in response to community complaints about the historical waste of money “This waste was only realised once Dorper became more involved on the ground level and it was extremely important for Dorper to act quickly.” One of the “Made possible by Dorper Wind Farm” signs scattered around Molteno and Strekstroom Pillai said a company decision was taken to resign from the contract with Dorper because “the client excessively dictated and distorted our human development strategy. It was obvious that the client had greater interest in achieving targeted spend per year and earning BEE and compliance points — than meaningful human development.”advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads He said: “There was little separation of powers/duties between Dorper and the many development organisations who worked on the ground — not just LifeCo.” “We have worked with 155,000 children and youth in South Africa over 25 years it was demeaning having our children subjected to a client who cared more about the scorecard and the revenue,” Pillai said In a letter to the chairperson and director of Dorper Wind Farm in trying to set the record straight about LifeCo’s role in the waste and failed projects in Molteno and Sterkstroom In disputing May’s accounting for the failed projects as noted in the minutes, he continued that “the CEO is the source of the disinformation — as indicated in the Dorper minutes previously shared. I wrote to seek a constructive way forward with you and having to deal with the CEO is not constructive — it’s fundamentally conflicted.”advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads we have been bound by the confidentiality clause in our contract Now that Daily Maverick and Cape Talk radio have published articles on this matter this clause ceases to be applicable to any information or knowledge that has been made public.” It specifies that “this clause shall cease to be applicable to any information or knowledge that becomes public knowledge other than by the doing of the Manager [LifeCo].” respected NGO with an impeccable reputation we request that Dorper and Mamoso cease and desist from bringing LifeCo’s name into disrepute,” said Pillai Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news Pillai listed at least 21 reasons why the explanation proffered by May ought to be disregarded as factually incorrect.advertisementDon't want to see this? Remove ads Despite her contention that she noticed a discrepancy between what was reported to her and what was happening on the ground only when she made a visit to the towns Pillai said that LifeCo had resigned and was not let go as May had made it seem In an email to the Chairperson of DWF and the shareholders dated 23 July 2019 Pillai writes that “While LifeCo Development Managers continues to offer its services to the market at large we have decided to withdraw as a service provider to DWF Management…I met with Mamoso last week to personally inform her.” When asked to respond to some of these allegations May said “Undoubtedly you have been informed that Dorper Wind Farm is currently involved in arbitration proceedings with KD Strategies It will be inappropriate and may cause prejudice to Dorper Wind Farm if matters relating to KD Strategies and She said that “Dorper Wind Farm has been focusing on implementing projects that would support our Theory of Change and each project or programme has measurable outcomes It is also important to emphasise that the purpose of the projects embarked upon by Dorper Wind Farm is to empower and upskill community members thereby securing their future as opposed to only granting interim relief through the payment of addressed what the community members have long sought: transparency and accountability “LifeCo will provide to the community full disclosure regarding the process in spending the funds; on which beneficiary groups the funds were spent; and what benefit was derived This will give the community the clarity and information they have been asking for which LifeCo was prevented/‘gagged’ from doing Dorper/the CEO will be invited to this meeting a courtesy that was denied to LifeCo when Dorper met with the community The media will be invited to this meeting,” he wrote an East London doctor and a lecturer at Walter Sisulu University has written a “queer positive” book aimed at educating young people from the age of 12 Superheroes in  Sterkstroom is the fourth installment in the Abancedi series that tells the story of Indigo a non-binary18- year-old “shapeshifter” who is on the hunt for others like himself The story includes Eastern Cape heroes Nina who are featured in the previous three books “This book is about a bunch of youngsters on an adventure who have a diverse range of skills and also represent a diverse range of individuals “I love books that normalize the diversity of our communities and ensure that everyone is affirmed and included “The book explores the use of gender-neutral pronouns something that has become increasingly widespread in society as we strive to be a more inclusive community for members of the LGBTQI+ community “The most popular pronoun for a non-binary person is the singular they/them The singular they/them was often used in old Shakespearean English but is still common in our language when using a gender-neutral term “There is also a range of neo-pronouns that are becoming increasingly popular “In the chapters that are told from Indigo’s point of view “Using neo-pronouns requires a shift in one’s thinking at first but you quickly get used to them,” said Muller The other three books in the series Runnin’ on the Flats and On the rocks at Mdumbi all follow each other in time but can be read independently who has spoken about her children being the inspiration for the series “This book is dedicated to my youngest child who turned 14 in 2022 which is very much reflected in the love and dedication of Nina one of the characters in Superheroes in Sterkstroom The books are stocked at The Book Lounge as well as Harry’s Printers in East London and Hey Clay and website in this browser for the next time I comment Recaptcha Change Image Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" National Government has decided to place the Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality under administration Enoch Mgijima LM was placed under mandatory intervention by the Eastern Cape Provincial Executive in terms of Section 139(5) (a) of the Constitution in 2018 after the municipality failed to make progress in improving its financial and service delivery performance Cabinet decided to place it under a national intervention In a statement issued by Government on Thursday National Cabinet Representatives (NCR) will be deployed soon whereafter the Minister of Finance will delegate powers to them in the form of a multidisciplinary team of experts Cabinet Spokesperson Phumla Williams says the Mangaung Metro in the Free State will also be placed under national intervention after failing for more than two years to implement the financial recovery plan during the provincial intervention The National interventions will take effect upon formal gazetting in the Government Gazette Several roads were closed due to dangerous driving conditions and snow in the Free State‚ KwaZulu Natal and the Eastern Cape According to the South African Weather Service large swells and heavy rain – will hit large parts of the country over the next two days The South African Weather Service has issued a snow travel alert for various passes between the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal SA Weather service spokesperson Garth Sampson says the following passes have been affected and closed due to the hazardous conditions South Africans have taken to social media to share their “Frozen” moments Follow Snow Report South Africa for all the latest Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments or follow GoodThingsGuy on Facebook & Twitter to keep up to date with good news as it happens Brent Lindeque is the founder and editor in charge at Good Things Guy Recognised as one of the Mail and Guardian’s Top 200 Young South African’s as well as a Primedia LeadSA Hero Comment * document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id" "aff6ec5d91c15d86a90c79537d8a5f67" );document.getElementById("d2d9e305b5").setAttribute( "id" Would you like to receive truly phenomenal inspirational and good thing stories right to your inbox Then subscribe to our weekly GoodThingsGuy newsletter today I accept GTG’s Privacy Policy GoodThingsGuy is the home of everything good and those are the things that really matter We believe that there is good news all around us and over 1 million readers a month agree with us GoodThingsGuy was officially launched on the 1 August 2015 in order to only promote good news inspirational stories and promote only positive multi-platform media company that distills unique content across multiple media platforms We consider individual and corporate contributions through the website or mail us directly here. Be sure you have your GPS enabled and try again The streets of Ezibeleni and Mlungisi in Komani were on fire from early this morning as unrest over a lack of service delivery by an embattled Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality (EMLM) in the Eastern Cape reached boiling point The municipality oversees the towns of Komani (previously Queenstown)‚ Tarkastad‚ Sterkstroom‚ Molteno‚ Hofmeyr and Whittlesea and is the product of an amalgamation of the former municipalities of Lukhanji‚ Nkwanca and Tsolwana after the local government elections in 2016 Police used rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of protesters at the access road to Ezibeleni shortly after 11am after protesters allegedly threatened to burn the vehicles of people trying to access or exit the area A taxi driver pulled out a firearm after he was confronted by protesters In nearby Mlungisi‚ tyres were set alight in the streets as a thick pall of smoke hung over the town The police have since confirmed that the R67 between Komani and Whittlesea has been closed by protesters while the road to Ilinge is also closed Calls for the provincial government to place EMLM under administration have been made since last year The municipal area is facing the possibility of power cuts due to unpaid debt of over R40-million to Eskom Earlier this month‚ municipal assets including fire brigade vehicles and refuse trucks were auctioned due to debt of over R21-million owed to a contractor after the construction of a R21-million community hall in Sterkstroom in 2012 On June 12‚ the Grahamstown High Court rejected EMLM’s subsequent application to rescind a judgment requiring the payment of the money with costs The sheriff in Komani has since written up a further – and extensive – list of more EMLM assets to be auctioned‚ set to cripple further service delivery in the area Residents have refused to stop the protest action until the area is visited by a provincial government delegation The latest protest action follows a peaceful march of about 800 people through the Komani CBD last Wednesday with calls for provincial administration of the area The DA last week called on the EMLM troika to call an urgent special council meeting to discuss the imminent sale of further municipal assets The DA‚ the EFF caucus in the EMLM‚ and the United Front in the Chris Hani region have all called for provincial administration of EMLM Finance minister Nhlanhla Nene has also suggested that EMLM be placed under provincial administration EMLM executive mayor Sisisi Tolashe has indicated that the municipality was doing all it could to attend to the problems‚ but that it required money which the local government structure did not have For more stories see The Rep Online – www.therep.co.za (Talk of the Town’s sister community newspaper in Komani) Talk of the Town is the weekly newspaper of record for the community of Ndlambe and serves readers in and around Port Alfred SAPeople.com is a division of Blue Sky Publications Ltd Reproduction without permission prohibited Home » Funny Placards Inspire Good Samaritan to Buy Jobless Dad a House Lusindiso Malgas (27) – originally from Sterkstroom in the Eastern Cape – lost his job due to the covid19 pandemic Without an education and with a lack of resources Without an education and with a lack of resources, Lusindiso found a way to spread joy, as well as support his family, by drawing up funny placards to entertain passers-by in Blouberg, relying on his sense of humour that has always gotten him through tough times All I know is how to make people laugh and how to talk to people I had no choice but to work and put food on the table,” says Lusindiso caught the attention of a good samaritan and business consultant who launched a crowdfunding campaign on the proudly South African platform BackaBuddy to help Lusindiso get back on his feet Funds raised will help Lusindiso realize his dream of becoming a homeowner and be reunited with his children who are currently living with his parents “Seeing Lusindiso’s smile brightened up my morning commute and I know the same can be said for many others I am a very optimistic and positive person and when I saw Lu’s smile and happiness to do what he was doing made me think about his and the situation of others Lusindiso’s story can reach more people and that his positivity can circle the globe.” says Brendan The campaign went live on 22 July 2020 and has thus far raised over R34 000 towards his fundraising goal of R250 000 with contributions from 130 donors both locally and internationally as well as people across the country and overseas who have helped me and understood my situation Make a donation to support Lusindiso’s crowdfunding campaign here.  Alternatively make a donation via Snapscan here Donations to Lusindiso’ crowdfunding campaign will be transferred directly to relevant suppliers to ensure that funds are used for their intended purpose Brendon hopes to help Lusindiso launch a t-shirt business to help him support his family going forward Keep up with Lusindiso by following his Instagram page which has already gained over 3,700 followers The May 2025 SASSA Older Person Grants may face delays this week due to targeted verification procedures currently underway by the agency Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi insists that taking a strong position on illegal immigration should not be misinterpreted or misrepresented South Africans could soon apply for passports and smart ID cards directly through their banking apps Kelly Smith’s mother has publicly criticised her daughter for failing to reveal the whereabouts of her missing granddaughter Cape Town residents in certain areas should brace for a 12-hour water outage on Wednesday as the City carries out essential maintenance work The proposed ceasefire remains uncertain as South Africa pushes for peace talks and Ukraine dismisses Russia’s offer