Grahamstown Municipality Ineptitude
It has been over 3 months since I approached the Makana Municipality for a way forward to deal with the river pollution. On the shallow end of August, i took a walk from Fort England all the way up to Zolani. Meaning I moved from 1 working poor neighbourhood through about 4 other neighbourhoods, scaling the bank of the river the whole time. I was looking for plants, herbs, and basically checking the quality of life.
I saw a riverside filled with pollution and recyclable/upcyclable materials. I saw a group of kids playing in a 10 meter high garbage dump. It was a mountain of garbage. And the kids would navigate the broken bottles, abandoned fridges and plastic waste, sliding and laughing in the only available "playground." Further down, is a Soccer Football field with a broken fence. Behind this fence, the river is split in two on the way up towards Zolani. There is an open sewer point there that is caked over solid with dried human waste that is bubbling under. The waste flows into the river. Meaning that the water below that point is unusable. It cannot be drunk or bathed with or anything for that matter. The problem throughout the 10km walk that I took was pollution, ultimately. Summed up, there are landfills next to the river, broken sewer pipes and neglect.
So as the concerned citizen that I am, I return to my home with a will to help. i return doubly concerned, for the shacks are always visible outside my window. It's worse now that I have walked through what should be their water source, and it looks more like a sewer than a river. We understand that other countries have this problem, too, but this is my country. I decide to try the official channels. I do my searching and find this man:
Tel : 046 603 6291
Fax : 046 622 9186
e-mail : MandisiPlanga@makana.gov.za
He is the Director of Public Safety and Community Services. After 2 weeks of calling him, I finally got a meeting with him, which lasted all but 5 minutes. I told him about the state of the river. He told me that the government already has a project called Adopt-A-River. I told him that obviously it is not working, considering that the river I saw was filthy. i told him about open sewage, of kids playing in 10 meters of filth.
He tell me he will get me in touch with Mr Nondumiso Nongwe. This guy.
N. Nongwe
Environmental Manager
Tel: 046 603 6056
Email: NdumisoNongwe@makana.gov.za
He says this, and I take it in good faith that he will expediently pass on this message that involves the quality of life of the people in Grahamstown. I take it in good faith that he will help me help the people of Grahamstown through the State channels. Legal, expedient and responsible. But I wait 2 weeks, no answer. I call his office back, and they tell me that he is busy. I visit his office a week from then, and leave my contact details again (2nd time)When finally I reach his office, 4 weeks later, he says he has already passed on the message to Mr Nongwe that i need to speak to him. A few days later, Mr Nongwe calls me, telling me that he is willing to talk. He will email me the appropriate times. I returned to his office and left my details after a week of waiting. To no avail. They clearly do not care about me and their work.
I have a mountain of statistics on how much the municipality spends. I am not short of numbers and pictures. But this is not my point. My point is that these 2 men are inept and ineffectual. They have promised much and given me nothing. What have they given the people of Grahamstown. Very little for the poor. Their rivers and riverbanks are filthy and the lies of their Adopt-A-River project are probably just another way to move money around. Because their rivers are ugly and we are going to expose them. They should have returned to me by now with some discussion as to what we can do. I am not short of solutions and have so many consultants in the Environmental sector. We are not short of the ability to can. But it is the State and its agents that stand in our way. I have named two. But it is their entire office that is culpable. Watch this space. We will bring you videos and pictures, because the rivers here have not changed.
I saw a riverside filled with pollution and recyclable/upcyclable materials. I saw a group of kids playing in a 10 meter high garbage dump. It was a mountain of garbage. And the kids would navigate the broken bottles, abandoned fridges and plastic waste, sliding and laughing in the only available "playground." Further down, is a Soccer Football field with a broken fence. Behind this fence, the river is split in two on the way up towards Zolani. There is an open sewer point there that is caked over solid with dried human waste that is bubbling under. The waste flows into the river. Meaning that the water below that point is unusable. It cannot be drunk or bathed with or anything for that matter. The problem throughout the 10km walk that I took was pollution, ultimately. Summed up, there are landfills next to the river, broken sewer pipes and neglect.
So as the concerned citizen that I am, I return to my home with a will to help. i return doubly concerned, for the shacks are always visible outside my window. It's worse now that I have walked through what should be their water source, and it looks more like a sewer than a river. We understand that other countries have this problem, too, but this is my country. I decide to try the official channels. I do my searching and find this man:
Mr M Planga
Director Public Safety and Community Services
Contact Information:Tel : 046 603 6291
Fax : 046 622 9186
e-mail : MandisiPlanga@makana.gov.za
He is the Director of Public Safety and Community Services. After 2 weeks of calling him, I finally got a meeting with him, which lasted all but 5 minutes. I told him about the state of the river. He told me that the government already has a project called Adopt-A-River. I told him that obviously it is not working, considering that the river I saw was filthy. i told him about open sewage, of kids playing in 10 meters of filth.
He tell me he will get me in touch with Mr Nondumiso Nongwe. This guy.
Environmental Manager
Tel: 046 603 6056
Email: NdumisoNongwe@makana.gov.za
He says this, and I take it in good faith that he will expediently pass on this message that involves the quality of life of the people in Grahamstown. I take it in good faith that he will help me help the people of Grahamstown through the State channels. Legal, expedient and responsible. But I wait 2 weeks, no answer. I call his office back, and they tell me that he is busy. I visit his office a week from then, and leave my contact details again (2nd time)When finally I reach his office, 4 weeks later, he says he has already passed on the message to Mr Nongwe that i need to speak to him. A few days later, Mr Nongwe calls me, telling me that he is willing to talk. He will email me the appropriate times. I returned to his office and left my details after a week of waiting. To no avail. They clearly do not care about me and their work.
I have a mountain of statistics on how much the municipality spends. I am not short of numbers and pictures. But this is not my point. My point is that these 2 men are inept and ineffectual. They have promised much and given me nothing. What have they given the people of Grahamstown. Very little for the poor. Their rivers and riverbanks are filthy and the lies of their Adopt-A-River project are probably just another way to move money around. Because their rivers are ugly and we are going to expose them. They should have returned to me by now with some discussion as to what we can do. I am not short of solutions and have so many consultants in the Environmental sector. We are not short of the ability to can. But it is the State and its agents that stand in our way. I have named two. But it is their entire office that is culpable. Watch this space. We will bring you videos and pictures, because the rivers here have not changed.
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