Boboledi bja Semmušo Ditatamente

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Mr Mkululi Mcotsho, our Leloko of the Eastern Cape Phrofense Legislature and a valued leloko of the United Democratic Mokgatlo (UDM).

We extend our deepest condolences to the Mcotsho family, his relatives, friends, colleagues and ka moka those whose lives he touched.

Mr Mcotsho came to the UDM with considerable experience in local government and public tirelo. Before joining our ranks, he had served the batho of Mbhashe Local Municipality in several capacities, including as Speaker of the Municipal Council and in responsibilities relating to infrastructure and tirelo delivery.

His experience, knowledge of local government and understanding of the everyday challenges facing communities made him a valuable addition to the UDM.

Following the Dikgetho tša Bosetšhaba le tša Diporofense tša 2024s, Mr Mcotsho took his place in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature as a UDM representative. He continued his public service through the Legislature's oversight and portfolio structures, contributing to the work of holding government accountable and ensuring that the concerns of ordinary communities were heard.

For the UDM, his election to the Eastern Cape Legislature represented tše dingwe than the gaining of a seat. We had entrusted him with carrying the voice of ordinary batho into the phrofense lawmaking and oversight process, and he accepted that responsibility with commitment.

His passing comes at a particularly painful time for his family, which has already endured great personal loss in recent months. We therefore hold them especially tswalela in our thoughts as they confront yet another bereavement.

Afrika Borwan politics is too often remembered only through its most prominent national figures. Yet our democracy depends equally upon men and women who spend years working at municipal and provincial level, dealing directly with the problems experienced by communities and giving practical expression to public service.

Mr Mcotsho belonged to that tradition.

The UDM has lost a colleague and public representative. The Eastern Cape has lost an experienced servant of the batho. Most importantly, his family has lost a loved one whose place in their lives can never be replaced.

May they find strength and comfort in the knowledge that his contribution to public life and to the communities he served will be remembered.

May his rest in peace.

The United Democratic Mokgatlo (UDM) in Mtubatuba welcomes the restoration of access to water at a communal tap in Majamisa Village, within the Inkosi Mtubatuba Local Municipality, after residents had complained for a prolonged period without receiving assistance. When the community approached me, I joined residents in taking up the matter and remained involved until water access was restored.

The immediate relief experienced by residents is understandable. However, access to one communal tap must not be presented as though the water crisis in Majamisa Village has been resolved.

Residents should not have to carry containers, queue at a communal collection point or organise their daily lives around an uncertain water supply. A communal tap may provide temporary relief, but it is not a substitute for reliable running water and proper household infrastructure.

The fact that residents are grateful simply to have water flowing from one tap shows how badly they have been failed. Access to water is a constitutional right, not a favour that communities must repeatedly plead for.

The uMkhanyakude District Municipality is the water services authority responsible for water and sanitation services within the Inkosi Mtubatuba municipal lefelo. The water crisis in uMkhanyakude predates the current municipal term. Following the local government elections in November 2021, the bosetšhaba Department of Water and Sanitation invoked section 63 of the Water Services Act in February 2022 and appointed a water board to support the management, operation and maintenance of the District Municipality’s water and sanitation infrastructure.

The intervention has since included the refurbishment and upgrading of water schemes across the district. Government has indicated that 22 projects, valued at approximately R1.3 billion, are being implemented and that the programme is expected to continue until September 2027.

Despite this substantial and prolonged intervention, residents of Majamisa Village still do not have reliable running water in their homes. This raises serious questions mabapi what has been achieved, which projects have reached communities in Inkosi Mtubatuba and why residents remain dependent on temporary communal water points.

Furthermore, the batho of Majamisa Village must not eba casualties of political rivalry or administrative buck passing between the African Bosetšhaba Congress (ANC) led uMkhanyakude District Municipality and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) led Inkosi Mtubatuba Local Municipality. The District Municipality bears responsibility for water services, while the Local Municipality is the government closest to residents and has a duty to ensure that the needs of communities are not ignored. Political differences cannot be allowed to delay cooperation or leave residents trapped between two municipalities blaming one another.

Water has no party colour. The batho of Majamisa Village are entitled to functioning infrastructure and dependable services regardless of which political party governs the District Municipality, the Local Municipality or any particular ward. The restoration of the communal tap must therefore be treated as an emergency measure while a permanent solution is implemented.

The UDM in Mtubatuba calls on the uMkhanyakude District Municipality to explain how long Majamisa Village has been without reliable running water, why residents do not have adequate household connections and whether the current communal water point is intended only as a temporary intervention.

The District Municipality must also disclose whether Majamisa Village forms part of any current water infrastructure project and provide the community with the relevant budget, implementation plan and timeframe for establishing a reliable and sustainable supply. The Inkosi Mtubatuba Local Municipality must ensure that the plight of Majamisa Village remains before council and that residents receive regular and truthful information mabapi progress.
 

The United Democratic Mokgatlo (UDM) in the Western Cape extends its deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the eleven batho killed in separate shootings in Langa, Gugulethu and Khayelitsha over the weekend. We wish those injured a full recovery.

We condemn these killings in the strongest terms. But condemnation is no longer enough. For decades, Western Cape communities have endured gangsterism, drug trafficking, extortion, illegal firearms and recurring gun violence. Government cannot keep treating each mass shooting as an isolated tragedy followed by temporary intervention and promises of arrests.

The UDM in the Western Cape has repeatedly warned mabapi the proliferation of illegal firearms and the criminal networks that sustain gun violence. Every illegal firearm recovered should trigger an investigation beyond the person carrying it: where did it come from, who supplied it, and to what other crimes can it be linked?

The suspicion that drugs and extortion may be connected to the latest violence further demonstrates that illegal firearms, gangsterism, drugs and extortion cannot be tackled separately. They form part of an organised criminal economy sustained by fear and intimidation.

The UDM in the Western Cape is particularly concerned about the relationship between affected communities and the Afrika Borwan Police Service (SAPS). Residents are repeatedly urged to provide information and assured that they can do so anonymously, yet people in gang-affected areas fear that doing so could expose them and their families to retaliation.

Government must take these fears seriously rather than lecture frightened communities mabapi remaining silent. Where residents allege that confidential information supplied to law enforcement reaches criminals, those allegations must be independently investigated. Even the perception that information is compromised destroys trust, and cripples crime intelligence. The state cannot demand the courage of witnesses while failing to guarantee their safety.

The UDM in the Western Cape is equally concerned about the fragmented response to this crisis. For years, national government and the Democratic Alliance-led Western Cape Government have argued over policing resources, powers and responsibilities. The City of Kapa has its own Metro Police and law-enforcement capacity, while SAPS remains nationally controlled. Afrika Borwa now also operates under a Government of National Unity.

After decades of bloodshed, communities should not still be caught between competing spheres of government. The criminals are integrated. Government is not. Gun traffickers, drug dealers, gangs and extortion syndicates do not respect jurisdictional boundaries. Neither can the state's response.

The UDM in the Western Cape calls for an integrated, intelligence-led intervention involving SAPS, phrofense and municipal law enforcement, crime intelligence and prosecutors. The priority must be dismantling gun-trafficking, drug and extortion networks; tracing illegal firearms; protecting witnesses and informants; rooting out bomenetša within law enforcement; and securing successful prosecutions.

Communities across Langa, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Mitchells Plain, Manenberg, Hanover Park, Bonteheuwel and other affected areas have carried this burden for far too long. Repeated shootings, gang activity and intimidation cannot be allowed to eba an accepted part of daily life.

The Western Cape does not need another cycle of outrage, temporary intervention and eventual silence. Bosetšhaba, phrofense and local government may continue debating their respective powers and responsibilities, but communities cannot remain collateral damage in that argument.

The batho of the Western Cape do not care which sphere of government wins the argument over policing powers. They want the killing to stop.