The town of Makhanda in the Eastern Cape, which is part of the Makana Local Municipality, is a rather quaint place.
In 2018, the Grahamstown Residents’ Association raised concerns about donkeys being “frequently maimed and killed in road accidents in Makhanda. It is traumatic for police to deal with injured motorists and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has to deal with the injured donkeys, which often have to be put down.”
The less bizarre – but much more devastating – symptoms of this malaise are empty coffers; water shortages; uncontrolled sewage spills; and non-collection of rubbish.In less than a decade, Makhanda went from being a typical South African small – grossly unequal but functional – town to being totally dysfunctional, with the poor bearing the brunt of deteriorating services.
The Constitution, Stretch said, “has empowered courts to be the ultimate referees on whether the Constitution or any other law has been breached”. The provincial and local structures will most likely be supported by the national counterparts at government and party level in their decision to appeal.