LETTER: Grahamstown a shadow of its former self, thanks to ANC
Municipal corruption and incompetence have destroyed the town
My wife and I had the very good fortune to attend Rhodes University in the early 1970s, in Grahamstown, a beautiful tree-lined, well-governed university town that attracted students, scholars, businesses and tourists. Of course, that was during the evil apartheid regime when the black population was ostracised and deprived, but at least half the town “worked” and residents had access to services. It is now one of 87 “dysfunctional” ANC municipalities identified countrywide, and according to Richard Gaybba, chair of the Grahamstown Business Forum, has lacked adequate water, sanitation and electricity for years. There have been consequences: 18 businesses have closed in the last 18 months; there is 80% unemployment; parents are sending their children to other universities and schools; tour buses no longer visit; the future of the revenue-boosting National Arts Festival is in doubt; a R50m municipal surplus in 1994 is now a R250m deficit; and the private sector and volunteers are ha...
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