SA National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers were deployed to calm violent clashes between taxi operators and the police on Monday, which had caused more than 100 voting stations in the Eastern Cape to remain closed.
Two years of frustration came to an end on Wednesday as the first cohort of students of the University of Fort Hare’s speech and language pathology programme finally graduated. The students were meant to graduate in 2022, but challenges to the status of the qualification for the four-year course hindered their progress and most were unable to find work.
East London’s crime-fighting forum has rejected the Eastern Cape government’s criteria for employing community patrollers who will receive stipends for the next two years to fight crime in Buffalo City. This is despite community safety and transport MEC Xolile Nqatha announcing that the government intends to hire 600 community patrollers by integrating members of the community policing forums.
Business leaders want to challenge the way tenders are decided in the metro to ensure more work comes to small businesses from significant infrastructure projects. A newly established business association headed by taxi boss Gabs Mtshali says it is time things changed. The BCM Municipality Business Association (BCMMBA) hosted its inaugural general meeting on Sunday in the Mdantsane Community Hall.
The scourge of abandoned and hijacked buildings in the Buffalo City Metro is compromising the safety of residents and businesses, with criminals running their operations from some of these neglected premises. BCM has identified 45 problem buildings, mostly in the East London city centre, Quigney, Southernwood, Vincent, Bonnie Doon, Egoli, Nahoon and Berea.