By Olwethu Nanto

Desperate to receive medical care, Malabar residents took to the streets to vent their frustration with the closure of their local clinic.

Last week, the Helenvale clinic reopened after being closed for two years due to gang-related incidents. The move saw the Malabar clinic subsequently reverting to the way it was run before — opening only on Fridays.

Thursday’s protest saw a mixture of the elderly, young people and women with infants gathering outside the Malabar community centre, holding placards and demanding the district health department reopen the clinic.

One of the organisers, Rozanne Moodaley, said their biggest concern was the safety of patients both at the Helenvale clinic and while travelling there, saying that while Helenvale residents had previously complained of crime while en route to the Malabar clinic, now the reverse would occur.

Our biggest concern is the gangsterism that led to the clinic in Helenvale to close. The gangsterism hasn’t ended in that area

We understand them [Helenvale residents] wanting the clinic to be reopened but they were robbed by people from their area while walking to the Malabar clinic.

“The people here won’t be able to walk to the Helenvale clinic, it is mostly the frail and old who would need to walk to the clinic, while other people would need to take a taxi to Schauderville, which costs R40 in total.”

Among the other reasons the Malabar community members wanted the Malabar clinic to be reopened was the growth of their community, which Moodaley noted had seven extensions.

By Nomathamsaqa Kula

52 years old Diane Attwell, the Port Elizabeth woman accused of pointing a firearm at protesters outside a Clicks store earlier this week, made a brief court appearance on Thursday morning.

The case was postponed to November 6 for further investigation.

She faces a charge of pointing a firearm.The prosecution said a witness statement and video footage from the Walmer Park shopping centre, where Attwell clashed with protesters on Tuesday morning, were still outstanding.

Later, she was led out the back of the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court building.

Despite some police presence, there were no protesters outside the court.

By Phumlani Saul

While residents have been forced to make do with an intermittent supply, or no water at all, for days, clean water has been continually leaking from a municipal building in KwaNobuhle.

Workers there claim the leak had been reported before the lockdown.

Municipality spokesperson Mamela Ndamase said yesterday officials had referred the matter to the water team who had been instructed to fix the leak within two days

Meanwhile, infrastructure and engineering head Mongameli Bobani informed Bay residents two water supply zones remained affected by disruptions.

All pumps pumping water to the reservoir are working and currently the municipality is trying to fill an empty system,” Bobani said.

He said the second supply zone was Emerald Hill and the affected areas were Walmer Heights, parts of Lovemore Park, Mount Pleasant, Miramar, Charlo, Walmer Downs, Overbaakens, Fairview and parts of Newton Park.

This zone is affected due to insufficient water into the system and an electrical fault on the pump station that pumps water into the reservoir.”

Bobani said no significant rain was predicted for the next three months and urged residents to use 50 litres of water per person per day or less.

“The system is highly vulnerable as a result of overall demand of water outstripping supply.

“Residents are urged to only use water for essential purposes,” he said.

By Nomathamsaqa Kula

Patrons at Walmer Park Shopping Centre in Port Elizabeth were left shocked on Tuesday morning when a scuffle between EFF members and a woman in her fifties resulted in a firearm being drawn.

Both parties were arrested but charges will not be pursued by either.

EFF members are protesting against Clicks following a racist hair advert published on their website.

Port Elizabeth police have confirmed that no charges have been registered.

Meanwhile: Retailer Clicks has obtained a court order against the Economic Freedom Fighters after several stores were damaged during an anti-racism protest on Monday.

In Tuesday’s order, the High Court interdicted the EFF from intimidating and threatening Clicks staff members or their customers.

According to police the firearm used in the incident is licensed. 

The Walmer Park Shopping Centre has been approached for comment and they said a statement would be issued in due course.

By Phumlani Saul

Port Elizabeth police are appealing to the public for assistance in their hunt for those involved in the brutal murder of an off-duty Nelson Mandela Bay metro police officer.

Police spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu said the officer’s body had been found on Friday at about 8.45am after officers from the Kamesh police station responded to a report about an abandoned vehicle in Tembani Street, KwaLanga near Uitenhage.

The officer, who has not been identified as his next of kin were still to be notified, was found in the front seat of his silver VW Polo.

His body had been wrapped in a duvet and his throat had been slit, Naidu said.

The motive for the murder is not known and no arrests have been made.

The silver VW Polo has been taken in by police for further investigation, she said.

Anyone who can assist in the investigation or may know the whereabouts of the suspects is asked to call Warrant Officer Marlon van Heerden on 061-949-0122 or the Kamesh police station on 041-988- 8722 or Crime Stop 08600-10111, or their nearest police station.

By Phumlani Saul

AN EVIL snake killed our son! These were the words of Ndlovu’s devastated parents after his passing over the weekend.

NDLOVU, WHOSE REAL NAME WAS SINOTHANDO HLULANI, DIED IN HOSPITAL ON SATURDAY AFTER A LONG ILLNESS, SHOCKING MANY PEOPLE.

The artist and entertainer was affectionally known as uNdlovu wayigeqeza or UNdlovu waseBhayi.He became popular with his hit song Pokolina and his debut album, Kubo. His clips are played daily on Skhumba’s Throwback Thursday on SABC1. Mum Nandipha (36) said the 12-year-old, affectionately known as uNdlovu wayigeqeza, was killed by an evil brown, shiny snake.

“He fell sick about four months ago,” she said. “He started to suffer from a kind of epilepsy and his condition became worse at the beginning of this month. “He couldn’t walk or talk. When we were changing his bed on Friday we found the snake in his blankets.”

Ndlovu’s father Siyathemba Nombombo (36) said he chased the snake into the yard and saw it had a shell. He said: “This proved the snake had been in our house for some time. I did manage to kill it.” Siyathemba said it was about a metre long.

The mum said as the snake was being killed the kid puked a thick, brown and shiny substance and struggled to breathe.

“We rushed him to Dora Nginza Hospital and he was in ICU,” she said “I went back on Saturday and doctors said he was doing well. “They said it looked like pneumonia or a lung infection. But we were called at about 6pm and told our son had died.” Nandipha said izangoma and prophets had told them the child’s illness was caused by snakes.

“They said two evil snakes had caused his illness, which was why he couldn’t walk or speak. This was done by jealous people,” she said.

The parents had no idea how they were going to bury Ndlovu – they survived on his disability grant and money Siyathemba made from erecting shacks.

“We appeal for help from anyone who can help us give our son a decent funeral,” said Nandipha. The adorable young musician and his parents lived in humble Bayland squatter camp in Port Elizabeth but instantly made his way into Mzansi people’s hearts.

By Phumlani Saul

MAN KILLED: Uitenhage police are appealing for assistance in locating the driver of a blue sedan-type vehicle involved in an alleged hit-and-run accident on Sunday on Old Cape Road
Image: SUPPLIEDnull

Uitenhage police are appealing to the public for assistance regarding an alleged hit-and-run incident on Sunday.

Police spokesperson Capt Gerda Swart said the accident on Old Cape Road, just before Kruisrivier, claimed the life of Maxwell Peyi, 38.

It is alleged that a vehicle, an Opel Monza, had run out of fuel, and while Peyi and another passenger where pushing it along the road, a man driving a blue sedan-type vehicle crashed into it from behind.

Swart said the Monza’s driver had heard screaming as the crash occurred.

Peyi died on the scene, while the other passenger who had been pushing the Monza escaped injury, Swart said.

It is alleged that the blue sedan’s driver, a male in his early thirties, got out of his vehicle and informed the Monza’s driver that he was quickly going to fetch his cellphone and would return.

“The unknown driver sped off and never returned to the accident scene,” Swart said.

Police are urging the driver of the blue sedan to contact the investigating officer immediately.

Anyone with information that can assist with the investigation or who may know the driver of the sedan is requested to contact detective WO Deon Roos on 079-896-8148 or SAPS Uitenhage on 041-996-3438

By Phumlani Saul

Police in Port Elizabeth are investigating a case of attempted murder after a man was shot in the head outside a shopping centre on Monday morning.

Police Spokesperson Colonel Priscilla Naidu says the victim and his friend were walking into the Bridge Shopping Centre when someone in a vehicle called out his name.

She says the victim approached a white Ford vehicle and a shot was fired at him.

Colonel Naidu says the man was hit in the head.

She says he is still alive and was taken to hospital for treatment.

The Bridge confirmed the incident.

BY NOMONDE CUSHE

Dozens of residents from KwaDwesi Extension, Port Elizabeth, blocked roads with rocks and burning tyres on Tuesday and Wednesday. They are demanding that 50 RDP houses be immediately rebuilt. The houses were so poorly built that they were demolished in January in order to be rebuilt. But more than half-a-year later the residents are still living in shacks.

Police dispersed the protesters at the intersection of the R75 Uitenhage Road and Mission Road on Tuesday using rubber bullets. But the residents then closed Lixolilelizwe Road. They demanded motorists pay R10 in order to pass. The protests continued on Wednesday, until the ward councillor addressed them.

The Eastern Cape Department of Human Settlements Bethelsdorp Rectification of Houses project started in 2018, to rebuild or fix RDP houses that were poorly constructed in 1998. The Housing Development Agency (HDA) is the implementing agent.

Fundiswa Mfanta, one of the homeowners involved, explained the situation: “In January our ward councillor told us to demolish our poorly built RDPs for the rectification programme. Our houses had huge cracks in the walls, and no cement foundations. They were just halls with a flushing toilet but no ceiling on them.

“She [ward councillor] said within two weeks the construction company would start. But every month she kept on referring us to the next month.”

“The place where my house should be rebuilt has turned into a grazing field for goats. My electric meter box is lying on the ground. I covered it with planks and plastic sheets. For the toilet, I have to ask neighbours. At night … we use empty paint buckets. We would keep that bucket in this one room shack until the following day. We had to connect our own pipes to our water metres in order to get water,” she said.

Community leader Anele Sopazi said: “For months people are crammed in small shacks with their big families. They are put under pressure by their neighbours who demand rent for their furniture and use of their toilet services. They were supposed to receive R1,500 while waiting for their houses to be finished.

“But police came, shot and arrested people for fighting for their rights. All that we want to know is when these houses will be built?”

Khulile Maclean said: ”I live in a one-room shack with my family of six. On cold days I don’t take a bath because my children have to sit outside and give me privacy.

Ward 36 Councillor Nomonde Mhlobiso (ANC) said: “Residents blame me for no good reasons. I am just the ward councillor. I have no right to order people to demolish their houses. Only the appointed contractors have a right to do so.

“We are on phase two of this rectification project. Per phase we rebuild 100 houses and two contractors were appointed to do that job. This area is divided into five units and per unit we rebuild 20 houses. But Covid-19 halted the project.”

“I was only informed on Monday by the Housing Development Agency (HDA) that the other company responsible for houses in phase 1 and 2 was found guilty of using its operating name illegally. Therefore it could not continue with the project and a new company should be appointed.

“I have sent the ward committees and project steering committee members to go and address the 50 affected beneficiaries. Covid-19 does not allow me to hold public meetings. I would be fined R5,000 if I do that,” she said.

“In 2018 when we started with phase one, the beneficiaries chose to be given R1,500 a month instead of a temporary shelter. They were given this money until their homes were finished … Hence they built their own small shacks on their sites. They also made their own arrangements with their neighbours and relatives to accommodate themselves with a hope of sharing the money.

“If they had accepted the temporary shelters, they would be provided with water and toilets,” Mhlobiso said.

Masiza Mazizi, spokesperson for Human Settlements MEC Nonkqubela Pieters, said two companies, Veren Builder and BM Matshisa, had been contracted to build 50 houses each. A court case, which had nothing to do with the department, involving Veren Builder, had delayed the process..

“HDA is busy with replacement and is expecting the appointment letter to be ready before 20 August 2020. The current challenge is that, apparently, the owner of Veren Builder kept convening community meetings without other role players and without the involvement of the department, promising to start construction as early as 1 August, hence community protests.”

Veren Builder’s spokesperson Karl Williams said: “We are not at liberty to discuss the court case. But the contract has been awarded to another company.”

Police spokesperson Andre Beetge said: “One woman was arrested on Tuesday for public violence. She was part of a group that was burning tyres the road.”

By Phumlani Saul

Residents of KwaNobuhle in Uitenhage say water has become such a scarce commodity it is near impossible for them to fight the coronavirus pandemic — as they frequently cannot even wash their hands.

Residents in townships like Khayelitsha and Philane say they often go with only two hours of running water — and that is usually at night.

Khayelitsha residents Esta Ngwenya said the lack of water was putting lives on the line.

“We understand there is global pandemic of coronavirus [but] unfortunately we are not able to wash our hands frequently due to inadequate water. I can’t say this is good for our health,” Ngwenya said.null

She said they were getting water from another informal settlement with communal taps, but even those were dry by Saturday.

She said she had not seen the water tankers which the municipality had promised would deliver water.

“We heard about the tanks and the water trucks but we have not seen those in our areas.null

“We are still having to go fetch water in buckets for cooking and drinking and we are recycling our bath water so we can use that for flushing, but that is so unhygienic and worrying because we should be washing our hands and keeping clean.”

“We are struggling with water and even to wash ourselves is a problem.

“They said there are water tanks but the collection points are not convenient for everyone because some of us have to walk quite a distance to get there.

At the weekend, the municipality sent out a statement urging residents to reduce water consumption.

“In the last four weeks some areas, especially on the western side of Nelson Mandela Bay have suffered water shortages,” the statement said.

“These shortages have been due to high water consumption and low dam levels supplying the western side of the city.

“This has led to areas like KwaNobuhle going without water.

The reality is that there are only 260 megalitres per day available, while our current consumption is at about 290 megalitres per day,” the statement read.

The municipality said water tankers would be stationed at the following areas:

• The top entrance to KwaNobuhle, Bantom Road;
• The corner of Matanzima and Mabandla streets;
• The corner of Jacob Matamela and 10th Avenue; and
• Ponnanatini Road opposite the fire department.

Municipal spokesperson Mthubanzi Mniki said the tankers were a temporary measure and the municipality did not, for now, expect a challenge in distributing water.

¹Mniki did not say how long the water issues would continue.