Tribal chief for last outpost is civil servant [RESPONSE INCLUDED]

EDITOR – I would like to compliment the IEC officials who created a friendly environment for voters, especially those who served us at the civic centre and equal appreciation is due to the SAPS for their friendly professionalism at the polls.
Reasonable South Africans yearn for a well-oiled democracy that will speedily implement the absolute will of the people without the need for protest or violence.
The 2014 national and provincial election results reflect a huge ANC support in the centre with the EFF on the left with great potential to become a force to be reckoned with. Even with 6% growth, the DA on the right fails to convince mainly because of the choice of incompetent candidates.
Beetge, the DA councillor for ward 97 is a perfect example of under-performance at the polls when comparing trends of other DA wards. This counter-productivity of Beetge expresses itself in that the DA leadership chose to place the ward 97 councillor second last on the DA’s nomination list for the provincial legislature.
It is time for the DA local hierarchy to do with Beetge what they did with arrogant Niekie van den Berg at national level. Alternatively the ward 97 counciller should receive urgently needed training in what is expected of a councillor, but also that which is not a councillor’s duties.
It is completely unacceptable for a councillor to be associated with a controversial confrontation with the police in so called ‘no confidence votes’ and entertaining delusions of grandeur of being a tribal chief for the last outpost of white South African conservatives.
He was quick to present a picture to the media of himself donning a shiner, supposedly inflicted by a white policeman. Even Carte Blanche visited our town for the occasion. The million dollar question is, why the silence now that the internal legal process of town councillor versus SAPS incident has been finalised. The very policeman in question is fighting crime, untouched by the councillor’s accusations and with the same success and enthusiasm as before. Carte Blanche has lost credibilty and will continue to do so if they do not lend the same coverage on the truth.
A councillor should at all times act in a respectful manner and in such a way that the people he represents are not ashamed to be associated with him. Only a loser with diminished social capacity attends a very important public meeting dressed in a washed-out, dirty short pants displaying our country’s national flag on his backside.
A councillor should at all times make a positive contribution and if challenges arise, make suggestions and motivate solutions to resolve problems and not be part thereof.
Why does he regularly deem it necessary to bore readers with publicity-seeking articles and pictures like the one where he hands Valentine roses to potential elderly voters in Warner Beach? He places himself in the press pointing to a ward 98 housing development as if he is in charge of ward 98. Beetge should keep his constituency informed with information regarding the prospective dig-out port. This project is massive and will change Amanzimtoti forever and benefit the whole of the South Coast.
Why does he not pose next to the Toti Estuary and inform us of his take and what he as a councillor is doing to address the hyacinth problem? Instead he questions the volunteers called Army Saints as to why he was not approached before following their own initiative to remove the alien plants. The same goes for the bird sanctuary, which although situated in ward 93, is traditionally known as the Amanzimtoti Bird Sanctuary, and in any case care of natural resources has no borders. The situation regarding the job seekers in Warner Beach, drugctrafficking and prostitution are conveniently put on the backburner by our sherrif councillor. Without blaming the police and municipality, he should keep us informed regarding his intended actions and report reasons for delays in resolving issues. Beetge must realise he is not a Voortrekker leader, but a servant of the people he is accountable to.
Excluding Beetge, I convey my appreciation to those ward committee members who work hard to take Amanzimtoti forward. It must be extremely frustrating to be shackled by the personal agenda of Beetge’s functioning as the chairman. In conclusion, the adage “You can fool some people sometimes, but you can’t fool all the people all the time” is so relevant.
Tommy Ackermann Snr

Ward councillor retorts

Editor – There is an ancient saying that appears as applicable to Mr Ackermann’s current knowledge of local affairs, as when it was first spoken: Ipse se nihil scire id unum sciat (I know that I know nothing).
A few examples might assist in clarifying this statement:
Being that Mr Ackermann is a self-confessed supporter of the ANC, he would obviously be lacking in knowledge regarding the DA’s internal open opportunity selection processes, in terms of which I was eventually placed 21st on the KZN list from an original pool that well exceeded 200 potential candidates. Try as I might, I couldn’t find the names of more ‘seasoned’ local ANC members/councillors in electable positions on the ANC lists?
It is already common knowledge that ANC support is down from 2009, this as opposed to national growth by the DA, which did not exclude increased local support in comparison to 2009.
The case involving the police officer is still under investigation by IPID.
Being that I am as much one of the people as I am a representative of the people, it is amusing that I could be expected to make excuses if perceived to being dirty after an honest day’s work.
Valentine’s Day – being able to bring a smile to someone’s face with a small flower – priceless.
You don’t know where the proposed private housing development area along Longacres and Karridale roads is? – shame on you Mr Ackermann.
The hyacinth problem was certainly the topic of many meetings, discussions and correspondence (I actually know the faces of consistent participants very well), thus the eventual budget allocation and current clearing of both the Amanzimtoti and Little Amanzimtoti rivers. Matters certainly seem to take longer in an ANC-led municipality, thus resulting in frustrated, yet possibly uncoordinated actions to get the job done.
Amanzimtoti Bird Sanctuary is located within the borders of ward 93 that has an ANC councillor? But, be that as it may, once we escalated the pollution problem using the correct channels, as opposed to it being pondered on private Facebook pages, the necessary action was achieved by initiating public/private co-operation and the problem is now receiving attention.
While drug trafficking and prostitution is certainly a constant concern, it remains essentially a SAPS mandate and something the CPF and it’s sub-structure should pursue – but alas, as the informed already know, the CPF has (again) become dysfunctional due to underlying political intervention.
We are certainly no exception when it comes to increased unemployment, inevitably leading to an escalation in crime – with 4,000 additional people arriving in eThekwini every week, but with no significant increase in the rate base – it is just indicative of what the country has become under the stewardship of the current government.
And what would correspondence from the Ackermann camp be without applauding the (hard working) ward committee – the majority of whom are either related to ANC councilors, employed by ANC councilors, hold political position within the ANC, are ANC members or in sympathy with the ANC.
Certainly Mr Ackermann, you can fool some people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all of the time.
Cllr Andre Beetge – Proudly DA – Amanzimtoti