UVOLWETHU EXPRESS | THURSDAY 6 FEBRUARY 2014 NEWS 1

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THURSDAY February 6, 2014 | 0 039 251 0834 | www.uvoexpress | uvoexpress.mobi | greg.nota@media24.com or express@media24.com | Previously known as theUvo Lwethu Fever EDITOR: BETTIE GILIOMEE

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GREG NOTA

THOUSANDS of angry community mem-bers from the Mbizana Local Municipali-ty’s ward 19 demanded electricity andservice delivery before they would votein the upcoming elections.

This was their message during a march throughBizana’s main road to the municipal offices, wherethey handed a memorandum with their demands tothe Municipal Speaker, Councillor Daniswa Ma-fumbatha, last Friday.

The memorandum only listed demands regardingelectricity, clinics, roads, RDP houses, toilets, waterand the community hall.

The community members of Ward 19, made up bythe Xozelwa and Monti locations, gathered at the Bi-zana Sports ground at the entrance of town.

Before starting their march, some members of theyouth barricaded the road with a burning tyre. Traf-fic came to a standstill, but with the interventionof the Mbizana traffic police the situation was re-solved.

The people’s message was clear. According tothem they hadn’t seen any service delivery in thepast 20 years, since the dawn of democracy.

Some of the messages were written on IEC postersreminding people to register on Febuary 8 and 9.Their blatant disinterest in the voter registrationprocess was shown by protestors taking these post-ers down on their way to the municipal offices.

Councillor Mafumbatha said some of the thingsthe community were demanding in their petitionwere for the attention of other departments thatdidn’t resort under the municipality. Mafumbathasaid they would call a meeting with other depart-ments to see what could be done to resolve the is-sues.

With regard to the electricity situation, she saidthey had already started the tender process for theelectrification of the area. The deadline for tendersis February 14.

After they had met with all the relevant peoplethey would make sure to have a meeting with thecommunity to give them feedback.

‘Noelectricity, novote!’< Angry community memberscarry placards that read ‘noelectricty no vote’ during aservice delivery march to theMbizana Local Municipality lastFriday. FOTO: GREG NOTA

> Angry youth barricaded themain road in Bizana with aburning tyre whilst toi toyingwhich caused traffic disruptionbefore the start of the march tothe municipal offices lastFriday. FOTO: GREG NOTA

Community members from ward 19 of Mbizana Local Municipali­ty took to the streets to voice their disatisfaction with the lack ofservice delivery in their ward. FOTO: GREG NOTA

2 NewsFebruary 6, 2014Uvolwethu Express

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ELECTION fever has hit again as different po-litical parties have started canvassing to en-sure people use their last chance to registeron February 8 and 9.

The Mbizana Local Municipal Manager,Luvuyo Mahlaka, said that they were work-ing together with IEC officials in encouraging

people to use this last opportunity to register,in order for them to be eligible to vote.

Mahlaka said posters were being put up andward committees, together with ward coun-cillors, were also encouraged to motivate peo-ple living in their wards to register to vote.

“People should understand that sometimeswhen things are not done, it doesn’t mean thatmoney is being misused. It just means that thepeople in power don’t have the means to reach

all areas at the same time,” said Mhlaka inresponse to the people from Bizana localitieswho were still refusing to register to vote overcomplaints of a lack of service delivery intheir area.

Mfundiso Sikhalane from Nkantolo villagein Bizana said he still refuses to vote. “Thereis still a lot that the government needs to doand promises won’t make things happen. Tak-ing action will.”

Sibusisile Mkhwanasi from Greenville inBizana said she would register but her votewould not go in favour of the African NationalCongress (ANC) because it hadn’t done any-thing for the people.

Zwelenkosi Ngidi, organiser of the Econom-ic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the Alfred NzoDistrict said they were hoping that people reg-ister so that more people could support theEFF.

Last chance forvoter registration

REPORTER

THE IFP called on the Minister of Police tourgently address the national crisis of delaysintheprocessingofbloodtestsfordrunkdriv-ers at Forensic Chemistry Laboratoriesacross the country, especially in provinceslike the Eastern Cape.“There are many toxi-cology, drunk driving and post mortem sam-ples waiting to be processed at ForensicChemistry Laboratories across the country.

Too many tears are shed by grieving fami-lies while the culprits are getting away withmurder. After parliament had passed theDNA Act, the IFP expected that there wouldbe no backlog. The process to prosecute of-fenders should have been quicker by now,”said the IFP spokesperson on Police, MP Ve-laphi Ndlovu.

Massivedelays inbloodtestsofdrunkdriv-

ers in the Eastern Cape allowed them to es-cape the wrath of the law.

“By not taking drastic steps to solve thisproblem, the minister has shown that ourcriminal justice system is failing crime vic-tims and compromising road safety in gener-al as culprits who are not taken off the roadcan re-offend. Dangerous drivers have noplace on our roads and those responsible forthe huge delay in processing these blood testsneed to be fired,” said Ndlovu

The IFP further called on Helen Sauls-Au-gust, the MEC for Safety and Liaison in theEastern Cape, to ensure that there would beincreased capacity and resources for the Fo-rensic Science Laboratory to do their jobsfaster. Express sent an email to the NationalPolice Minister with questions regarding thedelays, and another to the Eastern Cape Pro-vincial spokesperson. No replies had been re-ceived at the time of going to print.

Concerns over blood test delays

LAST week’s Council meeting of the Mbiza-na Local Municipality focused on attainingan unqualified audit report at the end of the2012/13 financial year.

They had an adverse audit opinion dur-ing the previous financial year.

The MLM Mayor, Makhaya Twabu, saidthe challenges the municipality had en-countered in the previous two financialyears were due to funds being misused.

“We are working hard to get an unquali-fied audit at the end of this financial yearwhich ends in June,” added Twabu.

At the meeting, members of council ta-bled a municipal turnaround plan for man-agement.

A mid-term report was also tabled and themunicipality’s progress to date was dis-cussed.

Another challenge for the municipality

came after the Port St John’s municipalworkers’ strike at the end last year.

MLM employees then enquired about theannual 2.5% increment for people that haveworked for the municipality for longerthan a year.

Mayor Twabu said it was a necessity thatthey calculate all those 2.5% increases foreach employee who qualifies starting from2009 and pay them out in full.

This amount was last paid in Decemberto the municipal staff when the municipali-ty spent about R2.4 million.

“We know that this amount of moneyis going to leave a big hole in our budget,as it was not budgeted for, but we willfind a means of filling the gap to balancethe books at the end of the financialyear,” concluded Twabu. – YANDISA POPPYDLEMBULA

Mbizanamunicipalityaims forunqualifiedaudit

THE 51% Black-owned construction compa-ny, Ruwacon, has been handed the construc-tion site for the Mthatha airport terminalbuilding by the MEC for Transport, Roadsand Public works, Tandiswa Marawu.

This airport, which aims to be the next ur-ban node of Mthatha, will also have a newcar rental building, parking bay and termi-nal perimeter fencing.

The MEC said the terminal building is thesecond phase of the airport upgrade projectwhich will cost R212 million and the depart-ment has made it clear to the main contrac-tor that local SMME’s must also benefit assub-contractors during this period, butwithout compromising standards andskills.

“We have learnt our lesson with the previ-ous contractor where some specificationswere overlooked and we ended up losing.This time we are sure that Ruwacon is expe-rienced and skilled enough to complete this

job,” said Marawu.The company will also build a new paral-

lel security concrete road, upgrade some in-ternal roads and complete the sewerage sys-tem.

Ruwacon, having been involved in manybig projects in the province and around thecountry, promised to do their best and tocomplete the project within 12 months.

Mthatha Nafcoc member, Vuyisile Ntla-bati, said they were happy that the upgradeof the airport was finally becoming a reali-ty. “This spin-off will create business oppor-tunities and more people will come to investand spend their money here in Mthathawhile waiting for their flights,” said Ntlaba-ti.

Department spokesperson, Ncedo Kum-baca, assured community members that noone would come from outside the area. Hesaid the 300-500 jobs to be created by thisproject belong to the people.– AYANDA MILLISA MADIKIZELA

Mthathaairport under construction

3NewsFebruary 6, 2014Uvolwethu Express

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Nelly NonjovuSales Executive

Email: Nelisa.nonjovu@media24.com

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YANDISA POPPY DLEMBULA

THE Bizana South African Police Services(SAPS) celebrated National Police Day atElongweni village in Bizana, last week Mon-day.

Elongweni village was specifically chosento create crime awareness here. Residents ofthe village was recently involved in factionfighting with its neighbouring village.All over South Africa, the SAPS celebrated

their day with various activities.Bizana’s SAPS taught communities about

police systems and, most importantly, aboutgood communication.Lieutenant Colonel Mthuthuzeli Hintsa,

who is the station commissioner at the Biza-na police station, said the main aim of goingto Elongweni localitywas to interact with thecommunity so that they would know thatthey could rely on the police and also joinforces in making communities a safer placefor all.

He said it was important for communitiesto know that South Africans live by the SAlawwhich is something they should acknowl-edge. They were also warned not to take thelaw into their own hands.“We always encounter problems when go-

ing to far away locations as the roads oftenmake reaching other places a challenge. Butwe have spoken to the municipality and theyhave co-operated,” added Hintsa.The Elongweni community was pleased to

host Police Day, as they rejoiced with the po-

lice and played games that made it easier forthem to see that police officers were also hu-man.Nomathamsanqa Njube from Elongweni

said that they listened and they would imple-ment all they’d learnt to ensure that they stayon the right side of the law.Children from Elongweni Junior Second-

ary School entertained the crowdand showedtheir appreciation by singing and dancing.

Yandisa.Dlembula@media24.com

Police reachoutonNational PoliceDay

Ntomboxolo and Sinentlahla Diya from Elongweni Junior Secondary school dancing at the Nationalpolice day event that was held in Bizana. PHOTO: YANDISA POPPY DLEMBULA

The Bizana Policeofficers/teamduring the NationalPolice Day eventthat was held atElongweni villagein Bizana.PHOTO:YANDISAPOPPY DLEMBULA

4 NewsFebruary 6, 2014Uvolwethu Express

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REPORTER

THE MEC for Local Government and Tradi-tional Affairs, Mlibo Qoboshiyane visited Nt-abankulu to see the damage caused by the re-cent storm in the area.

Qoboshiyane called an emergency meetingfollowing the loss of lives and extensive dam-age to infrastructure, after the storm. Somepeople were injured and hundreds were lefthomeless.He came especially to brainstormwith rele-

vant stakeholders and share with them gov-ernment’s relief strategy to lend help whereneeded as quickly as possible.In the meeting, Qoboshiyane said time

wasn’t on the side of disaster managementteams and he urged all teams to move with

speed to help the affected people.Among thepeople presentwere other affect-

ed municipalities’ officials and representa-tives from various government departmentswho gave input on how to fix problems andconsole the families involved.“I encourage all municipalities to consider

giving jobs and training to help install light-ning conductors, rather than frustrating theprocess with bureaucratic red tape,” addedQhoboshiyane.He said lightning conductors would need to

be installed in all the areas that were affectedby lightning to prevent future damage.Disaster managers of all affected munici-

palities were tasked to provide the cost of thedamage while municipal councils weretasked to assess the damage and submit emer-gency reports to the provincial government

which would then start with the process ofmaking intervention funds available.The Mbizana Local Municipal mayor, Ma-

khaya Twabu, said the disaster had hit Nta-bankulu in a big way and that Bizana was al-so affected. He said the MEC will coordinatethe operation to ensure that all affected peo-ple are helped.“The Department of Disaster and Social De-

velopmenthavestartedconductingvisits in theaffected wards in Bizana and more visits willbe conducted until all affected families have re-ceived blankets and food,” added Twabu.Eskom was already on the ground tending

to electrical infrastructure in the affected ar-eas and other government departments, suchas the Department of Education and the De-partment of Health, have committed in com-ing up with contingency plans.

MECvisitsNtabankulu to see stormdamage

The MEC for Local Government and TraditionalAffairs, Mlibo Qoboshiyane. PHOTO:SUPPLIED

YANDISA POPPY DLEMBULA

Amemorial service for the nine people whodied in the recent storm,washeld at theNta-bankulu Methodist church on Wednesday.

The storm left many people injured andabout 300 homeless.More than half of the people in the hall

were families from across the Alfred Nzoand Umzimvubu District Municipalitieswho had came to mourn at the memorial

service. The service was led by various de-nominations.The Ntabankulu Local Municipal Mayor,

Vusi Mgoduka, quoted verses from the Bibleto console the families and told them to puttheir trust in God, as he always knows howto care for his people, even in times of sor-row.“This day will always be remembered by

the government officials and also by thegrieving families as these fallen individualsmeant a lot to all of us,” said Mgoduka.About nine families were present at the

memorial, as nine peoplewere declared deadafter the incident. One personwas still fight-ing for his life in the Sipetu Hospital in Nta-bankulu.The Ntbabankulu Local Municipal speak-

er, Nophatheka Ndabeni, acknowledged all

families at the service while the Alfred NzoDistrict Municipal Mayor, Eunice Diko,comforted the families and assured themthat government would be there for all fami-lies till the bitter end.“I would like to thank all ward councillors

who made it a priority to wake up and leavetheir families to help those in need on thenight of the storm,” said Diko.She said there was still a lot that needed

tobedone in termsof burial preparationsbutthe government was prepared to help all thefamilies involved with the preparations.Some of the deceased were buried last

weekend while other funeral arrangementswere still to be announced.

. Three more people were killed by light-ning at Ntabankulu soon after the memorialservice.

Hundreds attendmass ,memorial service for storm victims

The Ntabankulu Local Municipal Mayor, VusiMgoduka together with The Alfred Nzo DistrictMunicipal Mayor, Eunice Diko, at the Massmemorial in Ntabankulu. PHOTO:YANDISAPOPPY DLEMBULA

YANDISA POPPY DLEMBULA

THE Alfred Nzo District Municipality (ANDM)donated foodparcels to victimsof the storm thatleft eight dead, many wounded and about 211homeless.

Municipal officials visited the area recentlyto console thevictimsat a local communityhall.About one thousand people were affected by

the stormwhich left some with only the clotheson their backs and all their posessions dam-aged.The Alfred Nzo District Mayor, Eunice Diko,

and her team visited these areas to console thevictims and to bring back lost hope to thosewhowere left with nothing after the storm.Mayor Diko said the disaster also struck are-

as of Bizana and Umzimvubu where people

were left homeless and distraught. People inBizana and Umzimvubu were moved toneighbours or relatives and some were sentto nearby community halls for the time be-ing.“Roads and bridgeswere alsowashed away

by the storm and as many as 25 school build-ings were damaged or destroyed,” said May-or Diko.Diko said they gave victims the assurance

that theywould seek assistance fromboth theprovincial and national governments.People who wish to make a donation in as-

sistance of storm victims, should call0860003781.

AlfredNzoDistrictMunicipalitydonates to familiesafterdisaster

; The Alfred Nzo District MunicipalMayor, Eunice Diko, during the dona­tions handover at the Ntabankulu vil­lages. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

; The Alfred Nzo District MunicipalMayor, Eunice Diko, handing oversome of the food parcels to familiesthat lost their homes after a storm hitNtabankulu. PHOTO:SUPPLIED

5NewsFebruary 6, 2014Uvolwethu Express

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REPORTER

ALWAYS wondered what it would be liketo work in a newsroom? Or, are you aschool pupil wanting to find out if jour-nalism could be the career for you?

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We are looking for volunteer citizenjournalists to tell us about events hap-pening in your area. We also want toknow about the issues facing your com-munity. And don’t forget about the goodnews stories – we are always interestedin those.

You may have a story to share; youmay want to write reviews for our web-site or offer traffic reports on your wayto work. You could be a keen gardenerwith lots of top tips to offer or simplyhave a fascinating, local story to tell. Aslong as it is local, we are interested!

School newspapersReporters from school newspapers

stand a chance of winning three subedit-ing training sessions by PE Express edi-tor Bettie Giliomee. Editing the news,writing headlines and captions and pagelayout will be dealt with.

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Student reportersCitizen journalism is also the ideal op-

portunity for journalism students to gettheir work published in print. In addi-tion, by submitting their stories, they donot only stand a chance of having theirstories printed, but also shadowing theour journalists for a week during the uni-versity holidays.

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THE Independent Electoral Commission has setaside the weekend of 8 and 9 February as the sec-ond voter registration weekend, ahead of the na-tional elections scheduled for later this year.

Accordingly, the Minister of Home Affairs,Naledi Pandor, has directed the department todevelop plans in support of the IEC during thevoter registration weekend.

The Department’s support for the IEC arisesfrom its mandate to deliver enabling documentssuch as ID’s to those citizens that may requirethem for voter registration purposes ahead of thenational and provincial elections. ID’s are an im-portant element that enables the citizenry to ex-

ercise its democratic right to vote.In a statement the Department of Home Af-

fairs said they are ready to issue ID’s, includingdelivery of uncollected ID’s and TemporaryIdentity Certificates to those in need.

As part of the overall plan of the departmentfor the voter registration weekend and in keep-ing with past practices, the department has di-rected managers in all Home Affairs officesacross the country to ensure the following:

) All Home Affairs offices to be opened from08h00-17h00 on both days (8 and 9 February)

) That all Home Affairs offices operate to fullcapacity during the two-day voter registrationweekend.

Both the green bar-coded IDs and the smartID cards will be acceptable as legal forms of

Plans forvoter registrationweekendidentity for purposes of registration and votingduring the elections.

As in the previous voter registration week-end, the DG, Chief Operating Officer and all oth-er Deputy Directors-General will visit all prov-inces in accordance with internal deploymentprocesses to help co-ordinate and oversee thework of the provinces during the weekend

According to the statement the departmentjoins the call by the IEC for those South Afri-cans who are eligible to vote to take advantageof the voter registration weekend and to ap-proach Home Affairs offices across the countryfor assistance in acquiring these enabling docu-ments to exercise their democratic right to votein this year that marks the 20 years since thedawn of peace, freedom and democracy.

6 School NewsFebruary 6, 2014Uvolwethu Express

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BETTIE GILIOMEE

FORD’S take on the very popular SUVmarketmade quite an impression when I had the op-portunity to spend a week with their new Ku-ga last year.

Needless to say, I was quite curious aboutwhat the weeklong road test would be likewith their “baby” SUV, the Ecosport, whichas the name suggests is a combination of Eco-nomical Eco.friendly and Sporty. CompactSUV’s, like the Nissan Juke, Renault Dusterand Renault Sandero Stepway are becomingincreasingly popular as people start to realisethat bigger SUVs can be quite costly to buy,maintain and fill with fuel, especially whenonly used for the city commute with its of-froad paraphernalia only (very) expensivedecorations.So what do these compact SUVs offer? The

high ride, ground clearance and look of a SUVcombined with the space to fit all the family’sluggage on a long weekend away, yet compactenough for the city and its tight parking spac-es. Not to mention the fuel economy in an en-gine that is powerful enough to be taken com-fortably and safely on the open road.

Exterior

TheEcoSport is built on theFiestaplatform.As the engines are small a lot of effort has goneinto clever design elements to enhance theperformance. And according to Ford one ofthe ways in which this was done, was to lookat the aerodynamics for a smaller drag coeffi-cient, and lowering fuel consumption.With a 200 mm ground clearance for those

potholes, speedhumpsandpavements that arein your way in the concrete jungle, theEcosport is also capable of driving in 550 mm

depth ofwater on adventurous off-road familyoutings in the real jungle.The spare-wheel is placed, uncovered, on

the back door, and while tastes differ aboutthis, I thought theuncovered spare-wheel add-ed to the sporty look. Plus it could be usefulfor a bit of cushioning should I reverse intosomething, by accident.Best of all - the back door opens sideways

- which I regard as much more practical thanthe traditional upwards way. Despite theheaviness of thedoor (due to thespare wheel on it)it opens easily bypushing a smallblack button situ-ated in the brake-light. Simplypress the button;it unhatches andis easy to openwith one hand.Talking about

heavy doors -since my chil-dren were oldenough to openand close cardoors they have been taught not to slam thedoors. This backfired a bit in theEcosport.Wedidn’t manage to have one ride without hav-ing to stop, right after pulling away, to allowsomeone to close their door properly.

Interior

Its Fiesta roots are also very evident in theinterior with controls similar to those of theFiesta. Here again, although a question of per-sonal taste, I would have preferred a differentlayout of the audio-system controls - it looks

like theFiesta’swinglike gamecontrol stylingwhich I have never really liked.But that’s where the negative stops for me.

This vehicle is filled with Ford’s latest tech-nology like its famous “Sync” communicationdevice and all the latest voice-activated sys-tems.There are 20 intelligent packing spaces

which include a cubbyhole that doubles as anair-conditioned beverage cooler, as well as aslide-out drawer under the front seat.

This five-seat-er is quite spa-cious despite itbeing a compactvehicle and theboot was sur-prisingly ac-commodatingtoo. We took thefamily out on adaytrip to Gra-hamstown for aprimary schoolcricket matchand managed tofit everythingwe needed for apicnic.

The seats can fold down and the backseatscan be folded away to increase the space.

Features

TheEcosport comes in three stylingpackag-es, from the basic Ambiente to the mid-levelTrend and high spec Titanium. Some of thehigher spec features in the Trend and Titani-um include steering-wheel controls for the au-dio system and a USB connector as part of theFord SYNC system. The Titanium has leatherseats, cruise control, auto headlamps and

rainsensing wipers.

Ride

The Ecosport is available in three types ofengines: the 1.0 litre turbo-charged 3-cylinderpetrol engine and the 1.5 litre turbo-diesel andpetrol. The vehicle test driver was the turbo-charged 1.0 litre and on our trip to Graham-stown it did not take long to realise why thissmall engine, won the coveted Engine of theYear title for two-years in a row. Apart fromthepowerful performance this enginealsohascleaner emissions and is more fuel efficient(givenas 5.7liter/100kmfor a combined cycle).The power from this engine is quite unbe-

lievable and will easily give bigger engines arun for their money on the open road.Oneneeds to geardownonuphills andwhen

overtaking, but changing the gears of the five-speed transmission was effortless and precise- I never struggled to find the right gear whileconcentrating on the road or traffic ahead.The ride felt a bit floaty at first, but it is

something one would expect due to the highground clearance. It provided a comfortableand pleasure-filled ride in a vehicle everystyle-sensitive teenager would be more thanhappy to be seen in.

Price and specificationsEcoSport 1.5 TiVCT (Petrol) Ambiente:

R199 000 PetrolEcoSport 1.0 EcoBoost (Petrol) Trend

R224 000EcoSport 1.5 TDCi (Diesel) Trend R 229 000EcoSport 1.0 EcoBoost (Petrol) Titanium R

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8 SportFebruary 6, 2014Uvolwethu Express

BABALWA NDLANYA

THE Imiganu Traditional Council in Elliot-dale hasmade some changes to their AnnualEaster Tournament this year.

The Organiser of this tournament,Melinkqubo Ndabokutya, said this tourna-ment would be hosted on April 19 at Mkhat-hazazo Sport ground in Elliotdale.

He said they had invited King ZwelonkeSigcau, King Ndlovuyezwe Ndamase, ChiefPhathekile Holomisa, Chief Dalisizwe Du-dumayo and Chief Xolile Ndevu.“Two weeks before the tournament all the

teams who are participating in this tourna-mentwill playmatches to select playerswhowill play in one team representing each ar-ea,” he said.The teams from Elliotdale that are expect-

ed to participate and become one squad torepresent Chief Ndevu are Mkhathazo Foot-ball Club, Thafalehashe Football Club,Mbetshe Football Club, Ndwaka FootballClub, Nkwame Football Club, Mqhele Foot-ball Club, Xhora Mouth Football Club andImbutye Football Club.He said all the Kings and Chiefs who are

invited will come with the teams who willbe representing them in this tournament.

Mr Ndabokutya also said they had invitedMthatha legends and Premier SoccerLeague players with the intention of moti-vating the youth who were not interested insport.“In fact we are still negotiating with them

and we believe that they will give us a posi-tive response.”

Babalwa.Ndlanya@media24.com

IMiganuprepares for Easter Tournament

Try Again is one of the teamsthat will participate in thepreliminary games to selectthe squad that will play inIMiganu Tournament.PHOTO:BA-BALWA NDLANYA