Doctors in the Eastern Cape have breathed a sigh of relief after their employer put a commuted overtime policy, that could have seen them lose about a third of their salaries, in abeyance. This is pending engagement sessions with all stakeholders which will conclude within six months, according to the health department.
Though infrastructure for taps to supply drinking water in Ngunduza village in Centane was completed more than a decade ago, villagers have been without supply for the past three years. A small stream with murky, stinking water is the only source of water Nosiphelo Debe and other villagers have access to.
As the country celebrated three decades of democracy on Saturday, pupils at several schools in Willowvale only hear about the rewards of democracy from news outlets. Parents said they had not tasted the fruits of democracy and that pupils in rural areas also deserved a better life. They attended school in ramshackle buildings under dangerous conditions a disaster waiting to happen, the parents charged.
With the Eastern Cape hit almost weekly by protests over service delivery, premier Oscar Mabuyane reflected at the weekend on three decades of democracy, calling for people to be optimistic. Irate residents have taken to the streets across the province over grievances such as a lack of clean drinking water, proper schools and roads, unemployment, electricity, crime and corruption.
Traditional leaders in the Eastern Cape have called for government to heed the “complex issues” raised by aggrieved citizens during this election period. The province has recently been hit with protests over service delivery issues including access to clean drinking water, proper roads and electricity among other grievances.