We welcome the forgotten supposedly front page Executive Mayoral Christmas Message last week albeit its confusing “we must avoid not to drink and drive” call. A dangerous intoxicating message.
Section 139 of the country’s constitution led to a different eMalahleni electrically plugged into the hands of an Administrator. Nothing to be proud or brag about when the city is under administration or siege.
It is still a sad story for eMalahleni not to record the past scenario of exit Municipal Manager enter Administrator as vivid and ownable, without holding anyone responsible for the intervention. It now remains a-let-us-wait-and-see stance after a bonus of six months extension to the office, became unavoidable with the elections peering just next door.
Current councillors are still licking their wounds after a heavy bombardment and tongue lashing by the country’s Cogta Portfolio Committee, who called them cheque collectors rather than community representatives.
The Ruling Party ushered a challenging and electioneering 2014which you and I can hear, visualise and capitalize its impact and how it reverberates through the walls and corridors of our intertwined economic and local governance.
Something that affects our daily lives. From good to arrogant citizens. From peaceful to violent protestation. From sparkling clean environments to rubble cohabits. From healthy to virus carrier victims. From clean water consumers to bug infestations. From considerate ratepayers to desperate critics. From a peaceful graveyard (cemetery) to thorny grave forest (crematorium). From local business empowerment to “who do you know.”
Recent calls for the S.A. Presidential resignation, reflects on our indecisive communities who only realise too late that they elected the wrong person. This is avoidable. A good choice must serve for five years, the same with a bad choice.
Lobbying for council seats has started. Woe unto us to target the only one who specialises in passing vote of thanks to the bereaved at the graveyard, whilst the burst street water pipe, will not allow us to access the bereaved family’s house. Woe unto us to target the RDP house collector for sale, when some of us only collect stamps. Woe unto us when political party T-shirts and cake freebees are listed and classified as service delivery. We have no reason to complain, should we elect dead wood.
The Ruling Party has unequivocally acknowledged and remain worried about poor service delivery, incapacitated local authorities, wholesale cadre deployment, accountability where the policy is nobody’s fault, somebody’s problem, everybody’s job or anybody’s ruling applies. Corruption is perpetuated by unpunished white collar; politically connected and well-organised criminals professionally addressed as a cabal to retain their status.
Unfortunately the eMalahleni community becomes a criminal accomplice, if it buries its head in the sand like an ostrich and expects miracles to happen in curbing criminal elements. To exacerbate debates on zero tolerance to corruption, not to disenfranchise potential investors, must be part of the 2014 proactive resolution as major stakeholder.
Noble recommendations on transparency, openness and participation in the King II codes for governance with stakeholders are paramount. Madiba bequeathed wisdom and the post Mandela era, should not lack vibrancy in all spheres of governance.
A degree of progression and denial to unworkable and derelict programs of our youth and job creation exists. In this land of massive job opportunities perceived and grabbed by the whole continent, more jobs have been lost than created. Let’s hope excitement on matriculation passes and slimmer prospects of being employed, will not lead to further reasons for depression and committing of suicide. We thus vindicate mining houses and Kusile Power Station magnanimously to embrace the future young business leaders.
2014 can only say wake up, you slumbering sleepy economic bull elephant and Mpumalanga business hub. Economic growth should be parallel and proportional to employment growth to address inequality and poverty. Once our coal is loaded on a wheelbarrow, it is gone forever, exhausted and depleted. Very soon it will be back to the cruel killing disease of poverty.
eMalahleni born and bred aspiring professional engineers, accountants, administrators and political gurus, shun sharing their expertise locally, crying foul to less challenging opportunities. This perception must be changed. Charity begins at home. How long do we have to wait for a Premier or even the country’s President born and brought up in eMalahleni? I hope it is not just an empty dream.
eMalahleni awaits true leadership on social, economic, environmental, cultural, educational, historical and in political degradation. To unite in diversity and overturn the negativity and skewed image levelled against eMalahleni. It lacks credible, honourable, dedicated and visionary leaders, who will rise above their differences and refuse to be spectators. Importation of bakkie loads of leadership from outside eMalahleni, Gauteng or overseas has made eMalahleni a no-man’s land invaded by black gold diggers.
The local business chamber did not slip, but opened doors to aggressive business entrepreneurs, legal reformats, social and cultural activists, academia, and community proponents took the reins to steer one of the co-drivers of eMalahleni economic growth.
2014 is for you our “Madibas” from the eMalahleni ghettos, to gallantly march us to rather economic freedom and save this l08 year old eMalahleni City to be a gateway to Mpumalanga Province. Half-visible offices of Nyda, Seda, Mega and Idc are across the street to make a difference. If knocking at their doors does not help, why not kick the doors open.
It is unfortunate that the trend of tenders for pals and comrades, tedious procurement processes and unethical behaviour, is the norm in parastatals construed as counter revolutionary and working against the same government. This paralysis, sends a message of despair amongst the prospective and aspiring young entrepreneurs.
Disgruntlement to heavily closed and guarded opportunities, to both local and established business developers keeps eMalahleni under administration. To challenge these, we get petrified to harassment.
We will shun to realise in 2014 eMalahleni ushering another cliché of a privileged few benefiting and enjoying the economic fruits generated by the marginalized and disenfranchised majority outside the country’s “Right of all who live in it” Freedom Charter.
We are undoubtedly responsible for eMalahleni being down, also responsible for it to rise up. Let us grow where we are (a rich economic hub) when others grow nowhere. Our thinking determines our growth. Away with 2013 negativity, you do not owe us. Welcome 2014 positively, we owe you.
The massive visible new Kusile Power Station next door, will hopefully not pride itself with less than 20% local labour and active business content contributing to its completion by 2017. It will remain a foreign achievement at the front door of eMalahleni .
Local steel metal industries suffered tight export competition against mechanised overseas production costs. Hence it has been cheaper to resource some of the metals overseas against local high production costs and this has impacted on labour absorption. Change of hands in the management and plant sales to overseas ownership, where plain scrupulous business practice and some local workers faced retrenchments, early retirements or stringent disciplinary actions to rid of access labour.
Furnaces are cold due to low product demands in local and overseas markets. Major overseas mills are able to export their finished products into South Africa as part of consuming markets. The demand is on our raw materials, where beneficiation is inextricably above our technology.
Other local heavy industries even threatened plant closures and this will create a bleak future, bearing in mind that these plants have been in eMalahleni for more than 60 years.
Retail has been booming and thriving. Our population growth is running above half a million this year and growing at a fast, uncontrollable rate per year. But manufacturing faced an upheaval against our obsolete time consuming infrastructure.
Tourism leaves us with grey hair. Multi billion Rand investments are blown through our noses, waiting for an uncompromising leadership to grapple and soften the political will. Safari’s will only browse our mine dumps and dogs at the SPCA, but pass through to the rich Mpumalanga nature reserves. No revenue to eMalahleni.
The coal mining monopolises 90% energy generating our Power Stations and overseas market exports, making the highest South African earner in its balance of payments and revenue.
After twenty years of political liberation, eMalahleni will reflect on its economic freedom congruent with its hard-earned holistic freedom.
A prosperous, aggressive and robust 2014 for eMalahleni.
