Just over a week ago The BEAT reporter, TK Mashaba, travelled to Koppewaai in Bela-Bela, in the company of mayoral spokesperson, Kabelo Mosito.
The purpose was, among others, to sense out the veracity of allegations of alleged illegal electrical connections in the area.
Let me start by making it clear that as a newspaper we understand deeply the origins of illegal land invasions and power connections.
These are mostly — not always — desperate measures by poor communities to better their living conditions, never mind through what means.
Unfortunately, more often than not, poor communities are used as cannon fodder to fight political contestations.
If TK has to be believed (why not?), local politicking seems to have crept into the whole affair at Koppewaai.
For instance, a politician at the scene of the incident in Koppewaai chose not to use the opportunity to articulate the community’s side of the story to The BEAT, dare I say one of the most
widely-read newspapers in the Waterberg.
Instead, TK tells me, the self-same politician was at the forefront of a section of the community making threats bordering on violence against the reporter.
I deliberately choose not to mention the name of the politician, because I genuinely believe there is a crying need to engage with the relevant political party, and indeed the city fathers, as
to the downright criminal threats against our reporter.
Our doors are open to the politician in question, to visit our offices and help us understand these community issues.
As downright professionals we do not bear grudges. Instead we encourage positive engagements between us and politicians from whatever political party or formation.
Having said that, we join thousands of people from across the Waterberg in mourning the death of Bela-Bela political stalwart, Edna Molewa.
I have my own boyhood memories of the older Sis Edna, when during school holidays my late grandmother used to fetch me from Pretoria to spend Christmas in ol’ Warmbaths.
I remember vividly how the girlhood Edna and other girls of her age used to carry jerry-cans of water on their heads, drawn from the communal water taps at the street corner.
When I worked as a reporter in Pretoria, and by extension the North West Province, there was this petite North West Premier Edna Molewa, who called me “home boy”.
Because I was from Mabopane and Premier Molewa was also from section D of the same township, I mistakenly thought the “home boy” stuff had to do with the latter township.
It was only when I came to work in Bela-Bela that the likes of Tilly Radebe reminded me that by “home boy” Sis Edna was referring to my Christmas visits in these neck of the woods.
I am writing this column on a Tuesday (25 September) after losing a whole working day due to the Heritage Day holiday.
Pray for us as we scramble around to put together a newspaper in record time!
— The BEAT
