With campaigning gaining momentum before the hotly contested May 29 election, two political parties in the Eastern Cape have ruffled the feathers of taxi bosses after reportedly failing to cough up for ferrying members to their rallies. The EFF and uMkhonto weSizwe are entangled in pay disputes which have left operators frustrated.
With finance MEC Mlungisi Mvoko revealing that the province is dipping into its reserves again, withdrawing R800m to offset a budget deficit, concerns have emerged regarding a potential cash shortage in the Eastern Cape.
Premier Oscar Mabuyane’s state of the province address got off to a bumpy start at the Christian Centre in Abbotsford, East London, on Thursday when a fight broke out between EFF MPLs and the Eastern Cape legislature’s security detail.EFF MPLs had initially raised their hands, moments before Mabuyane was to begin with his address, to put forward a motion about the plight of tertiary students who have been protesting in East London.
A useless speech with little game changers announced to turn the province around that is how opposition parties described Eastern Cape premier Oscar Mabuyane’s last state of the province address for this term.
A scuffle that led to chaotic scenes at the Abbotsford Christian Centre in East London where thousands of people gathered for the state of the province address, saw an MPL taken to Frere Hospital after she sustained a head injury.