LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

SANDF shielding murder suspects, undermining state authority

The phrase “coup d’état” describes situations where state power is usurped by an unauthorised agent, often through force or illegal means.

The Hawks’ Lt-Col Frans Mathipa was assassinated in August 2023 while investigating the alleged abduction of Abdella Abadiga from the Mall of Africa in December 2022. Mathipa identified 12 South African National Defence Force (SANDF) special forces operatives as being responsible.

The 12 were arrested for Mathipa’s murder, among others, but were released on bail. Later, six of the accused had their bail revoked, but the SANDF refuses to hand them over. Since Mathipa’s assassination, two have even received promotions.

According to the BBC, neither President Cyril Ramaphosa nor his defence minister will comment on the case, even though it flagrantly attacks the legitimacy of the South African state.

Meanwhile, Gen Rudzani Maphwanya, former of Umkhonto we Sizwe and now head of the SANDF, made unauthorised statements during a visit to Iran and disregarded an instruction forbidding the Iranian warship Naghdi, since sunk by the US, to take part in this year’s naval exercise Will for Peace.

Any reasonable South African is entitled to ask if it is Maphwanya who now runs the country and to wonder who he works for. If the president won’t defend and protect his own police force, he has lost authority and a coup has occurred.

James Cunningham

Camps Bay

Grant recipients need a growing economy

Kelle Howson and Siyanda Baduza’s article refers (“How many people should really be getting the SRD grant?”, August 20).

The grant system in South Africa is shameful. What should happen is the removal of the ANC and its unmeritorious socialist gobbledygook, to be replaced by people who know how to grow an economy.

A growing economy would provide jobs and dignity to what are now grant recipients. The ANC thought it had a good story to tell — that it has added hundreds of thousands of grant takers instead of stepping back and letting economically productive people provide real jobs in a growing economy.

Most depressing of all is that the poor grant takers vote for their own downfall. How sad is that?

Andrea Robertson

Via Business Day online

Residents of Raymond Mhlaba Municipality deserve much better

The people of Raymond Mhlaba Municipality have endured years of poor service delivery, financial instability and growing concerns around corruption and maladministration. As municipalities across the Eastern Cape struggle with governance failures, communities cannot afford another five years of broken promises, wasteful expenditure and leaders who fail to account.

Local government is the sphere of government closest to the people. It is responsible for ensuring that residents have access to basic services such as clean water, reliable electricity, properly maintained roads, sanitation and a safe environment. When municipalities fail in these responsibilities it is ordinary residents, especially the poor and vulnerable, who suffer the greatest consequences.

The ongoing challenges facing Raymond Mhlaba Municipality and the wider Amathole District Municipality raise serious questions about financial management, accountability and whether public resources are being used for the benefit of communities or a connected few.

We call on co-operative governance & traditional affairs minister Velenkosini Hlabisa to urgently consider the implementation of lifestyle audits, particularly for senior municipal officials and those entrusted with managing public funds. Lifestyle audits are an important accountability tool that can help determine whether an official’s assets, spending patterns and standard of living are consistent with their legitimate income.

Public office is a position of trust. Municipal officials and political leaders must be able to explain how wealth is accumulated while communities continue to experience water shortages, deteriorating infrastructure, failing roads and unemployment.

A lifestyle audit is not about targeting individuals unfairly; it is about restoring confidence in institutions and ensuring that those responsible for public resources are held to the highest standards of integrity. Where there is nothing to hide, transparency should be welcomed.

But lifestyle audits must form part of a broader programme of reform. Raymond Mhlaba Municipality needs a culture of accountability, professional administration and consequence management and an end to political interference in the running of municipal institutions. Skilled and capable people must be appointed based on competence, not political loyalty.

Residents deserve a municipality that works for them, not one that exists to serve the interests of a few individuals. The upcoming local government elections present an opportunity for communities to demand change, demand accountability and demand leaders who understand that public service is a responsibility, not a privilege.

The people of Raymond Mhlaba Municipality cannot afford another five years of maladministration. The time for decisive action and transparency and a new approach to local government has arrived.

Thulani Dasa

Fort Beaufort

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