Food parcels spark bitter dispute
The exclusion of Ward 33 councillor Nicole Graham from a Poverty Alleviation Programme has upset residents and the councillor.
A POVERTY alleviation programme organised by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) has sparked a bitter dispute between the ward councillor, Nicole Graham, the PR councillor Judy Mulqueeny and Bheki Mngwengwe of the eThekwini Mayor’s office.
Gramam said she had received a number of complaints from residents in Umbilo that Mulqueeny had been handing out food parcels to residents in the ward as part of the poverty alleviation programme last Wednesday.
According to Graham, the programme had completely excluded her as the elected ward councillor and instead was being run from Mulqueeny’s office.
“I contacted SASSA and they claim the contact details they received for the ward were from the Mayor’s Office and were for the ANC PR councillor. SASSA cannot run programmes without the knowledge of the ward councillor for an area and they know this. The PR councillor had no mandate from ward 33,” said Graham.
She said Bheki Mngwengwe of the Mayor’s Office had indicated that everyone was allowed to submit lists of needy persons at a previous meeting held in Wentworth, but she was never invited to attend the meeting.
“He also said that now that he has my number he will include me. How can the Mayor’s Office not know how to contact a ward councillor? This smacks of blatant electioneering,” said Graham.
She said she was frequently excluded from programmes and information in her own ward to make way for a councillor who was not a representative of the community.
“I have had a number of complaints all morning from residents in Umbilo who are deeply concerned about this compromised process,” she said.
