If it is true the municipal budget for 2022-’23 was accepted unanimously by council, is it not a good sign that finally domestic issues are becoming more important? And the contestation of national parties no longer forms the basis for debate at town level? Given the collapse in municipalities around the country, is it not something all the residents of Stellenbosch can be thankful for?
I am sure there is always something that could have been handled better. Given the track record of Stellenbosch compared to almost all municipalities outside the Western Cape it appears we are in a much better position than our peers.
This success is achieved by the current administration in a very difficult environment (labour laws making disciplinary action against staff members who are recalcitrant extremely difficult and time and resource consuming, police who are simply completely under-resourced, a criminal justice system doing its best to protect criminals and making it difficult for those who lay charges against criminals).
Also, aggressive panhandling by street people, an education system that produces too many entitled young people who don’t realise what hard work and agreeableness means.
Then there are poor economic policies implemented at national level, policy uncertainty, out-of-control theft of infrastructure sold to the scrap-metal industry, a taxi industry not subject to regulation, Water Affairs that cannot provide licences within a reasonable time frame, no rail transport and many more ought to be the focus.
And most importantly, how do we do better in the year ahead and into the future? To improve on the proper record of the success to date is necessary.
