It is well known that suspicion breeds in a communication void. It is also a given that limited knowledge can often be as destructive as no knowledge at all.
With the local government elections less than a year away, Potchefstroomers are growing increasingly frustrated and are being starved of convincing answers, particularly when it comes to service delivery.
The Potchefstroom Herald, along with numerous councillors, more-than-patient community members and other media entities, have been waiting in vain to hear from our local government leaders.
During this year alone, dozens of emails to the council spokesman, the municipal manager and the executive mayor remain unanswered. Surely, the voting public has a right to access information from the decision-makers that it has elected?
Has anyone explained why ward 26 does not appear anywhere in Tlokwe’s integrated development plan, or why the people in Marikana still have to use buckets for toilets? Is there any councillor that knows something about the multi-million rand distribution of paraffin and stoves in the townships, or what is happening at the bottom of Albert Luthuli Road? Would the struggle hero, after whom the road is named, give the botched tender and its progress a thumbs-up? And, what about the sole breadwinner of a Promosa household that has been waiting for more than twenty years, just to get a stand. Where do you suppose she will put her cross?
If weary complainants keep a record of every piece of correspondence that has been ignored, every promise to get back to them and every election promise that was forgotten, would there be enough evidence to incriminate those whom we entrusted with our aspirations and hopes of a better future?
