It might not have been under ideal conditions, but Ntombizine Mtengwane was happy when she and her family were moved to temporary houses by authorities after a violent altercation between Mthatha’s Tipini residents and the Waterfall township community in 2012. This was after thousands of Tipini residents, who had turned an old dumpsite into a thriving shack-dwelling community, were accused by their neighbours of harbouring dangerous criminals.
In keeping with mayor Nyaniso Nelani’s dream of turning Mthatha into another Kigali, the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) municipality is buying 100 additional dustbins for the Eastern Cape town. Though many Mthatha streets already have dustbins, residents and businesses have called for more to keep the town centre clean.
In late 1989 I joined a group of students on a trip from Cape Town to what was then the Transkei homeland, now part of the Eastern Cape. We travelled all night, arriving at our destination on the morning of October 1, bleary-eyed but excited. We sang, we met old friends, we talked, and we toyi-toyied. We were there to bury “Comrade” King Sabata Jonguhlanga Dalindyebo, deposed Paramount Chief of the AbaThembu. It was his second burial.
Our politicians, and the ANC in particular, have lost their moral and ethical compasses. They are here to grab power by any means necessary so that they can continue to loot