6th December, 2008, Page 2 - Edition 200

The Midlands Herald

Page 2 — December 2008

Community leaders endorse Lauren de Scally

“Howick needs a strong team to keep local government clean and accountable. The DA councillors in uMngeni have performed splendidly in this role, and I have no doubt that Lauren de Scally will add considerably to the strength of this team.” - John Tungay Hon. Life Vice President: Umngeni Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Vice-President KZN Chamber of Business. “Lauren de Scally is the kind of councillor Howick needs: determined, committed and courageous. She has my 100% support.” - Dr Bronwen Schoenfeld: Local Plastic Surgeon

“Lauren de Scally is a team player and a determined, energetic and highly capable businesswoman. She will add considerable value to our town of Howick. I believe that the grit and determination she has shown as a Comrades athlete and mother of two will equip her for the challenging task of being our councillor. I therefore have no hesitation in endorsing her as our candidate.” - Dr Mark Stead: Local General Practitioner

On going to print, Dr Ian Player joined other prominent Howick personalities in endorsing Lauren de Scally as the candidate of choice in the Howick Ward 2 by-election.

uMngeni and Mpofana may evaluate each other

41 Bell Street, Howick Tel 033-330 8116 • 330 5546

LAURIE BUTLIN

B. Pharmacy (Rhodes) * Adv. Dip. in Hearing Aid Acoustics (Pretoria Univ.)

Hearing Aid Acoustician • Hearing Tests • Batteries (R18-95 for 6) • Hearing aids (or quotes) • Suppliers of leading international hearing aid brands with latest in technology + New Tinnitus breaker hearing aids. • FREE 30-day trial period on hearing aids. By appointment at:

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Wednesday, 10 December

“When Lauren de Scally commits to any undertaking, she puts her heart and soul into making it a success. I believe she will make a formidable councillor.” - Dr Pete Johnston: Local Veterinarian

ELECTION UPDATE:

Cawood Accounting Solutions cc

WARD 2 BY-ELECTION

At the last sitting of council the format of the annual performance assessments of the highly-paid municipal management was changed to include a committee comprising the mayor of uMngeni together with the mayor and the municipal manager of Mpofana. Whilst municipal manager Dumisani Vilakazi was keen to have the municipal manager and mayor of Mpofana as members of his review team, the DA caucus favoured the oversight role of a “more functional municipality” and one known to be not so “cosy” with the uMngeni management — namely the municipal manager of Msunduzi Rob Haswell. Out-voted by the ANC caucus, the DA caucus thereupon requested that a further item be added to the resolution, precluding uMngeni from sitting on Mpofana’s Review Committee, to avoid the possibility evolving of a reciprocal “I-scratch-your-back-youscratch-mine” arrangement. This too was out-voted. Reflecting on Mr Vilakazi’s recent vehicle accident, when he was arrested he used his right to make one telephone call — to ‘phone the municipal manager of Mpofana to come to his assistance!

Keep your ward DA!

Municipality’s dubious animal pound uMngeni Municipality’s provision of pound facilities for animals — stipulated in the KZN Pounds Act of 2006 — is in dire need of investigation. In a curious move, in May 2008 the tender to operate a pound on behalf of uMngeni was awarded to a cattle trader named Richard Ndlovu — for an annual payment of R625 000. Yet the Mpophomeni Cattle Traders Association has stated that it itself will not deal with Mr Ndlovu. The Pounds Act of 2006 sets out specific regulations in order to assure the welfare of the animals in its care. However, according to Cllr Pam Passmoor, these regulations are being flouted on a daily basis.

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“Never mind the fact that there is something decidedly dubious about the granting of this tender to a cattle trader who the community is refusing to deal with,” she said to The Herald, “there is only one paddock and Ndlovu’s own cattle are kept with the impounded animals.” She also claimed that the animals’ daily needs are not being attended to, as they have no shelter and no on-site water supply. In her opinion, the business side of this arrangement also needs further investigation as the previous impounding arrangements resulted in no cost to the municipality, whereas this service agreement is costing the ratepayer more than R600 000 a year. In terms of the KZN Pounds Act of 2006, a municipality must provide animal pound facilities, either through a service provider or by operating its own pound. In previous years, uMngeni used Buster Matteson’s organization, Cow Catchers CC, which serves other municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. In contrast to the present arrangement, Cow Catchers’ service generated an income of R16 882 in 2007 and cost the municipality nothing.