Leader of the UDM Bantu Holomisa. Picture: Paballo Thekiso
“We wish for President Cyril Ramaphosa to come visit our village together with his entourage to come witness our standard of living first-hand,” residents of Centane in the Eastern Cape told The Star on Monday.
Siviwe Kawe, from the village, said the state of their infrastructure was appalling, adding that there was no maintenance of basic things such as road and buildings.
“Our village can be used as a tourist hub, we have a beach here and we had a hotel. Those things would have been used as tourist attractions, which in turn would have created jobs for many despondent young people in the village.
“Because we don’t have prominent leaders coming from this village maybe it’s the reason why some of the infrastructure is being let to deteriorate like this,” Kawe said.
He was one of many residents who came to listen to the United Democratic Movement (UDM) president General Bantu Holomisa, who visited the area as part of his party’s mobilisation towards the party’s manifesto launch, set to take place at Gallagher Estate in Midrand on March 2.
While addressing supporters, Holomisa told them that the village found itself in this sorry state due to lack of leadership from the governing party.
“The village’s infrastructure has collapsed and it’s not just here in Centane, but the entire Eastern Cape. The hotel here in Mazepa Holiday Resort has been closed because of bad roads.
“The ruling party has failed to deal with the economy, crime, unemployment and many other socials ills our people were suffering from,” added the UDM president.
Holomisa said residents can fight the scourge of poverty by making use of the land they were currently having and investing in food security. One way of doing that, he said, was to not let the land stand idle.
An elderly woman, affectionately known as “MaDlamini”, Nomacawe Bulube, said she trusted Holomisa as he has proven that he was the only leader who has kept his loyalty and that was rooted in his people.
“Uyasihoya UGeneral (loosely translated as the General takes care of us), hence some of us here would forever be loyal to his organisation, as for these other ones, they only come to us when they need votes.
“Whenever he has an opportunity he thinks of us, because of UDM and him (Holomisa) we have food parcels and many other things we need, especially during festive season,” Bulube explained.
The village is situated in the Amathole District Municipality which is approximately 31km from Butterworth.
The Star
sipho.jack@inl.co.za