EDITOR – I am not in a ‘bitter dispute about food parcels’ with the ward councillor of Ward 33 Nicole Graham, as mentioned in the article published 13 March 2014.
At no time before the article was written did she contact me or speak to me about the SASSA food parcels programme.
The complaint from residents that I was handing out food parcels is simply not true. SASSA came to my office to verify the names of the 100 vulnerable residents from around the ward whose names I had been asked to submit. After doing that, iIt was only on Monday 17 March that SASSA came to deliver the food.
Also, if Graham believes she is ‘excluded from programmes in her own ward’, it must be asked whether she has consulted me to find out where those programmes come from.
Although I am a PR Councillor, it does not mean that I must remain inactive. In the almost six years I have been deployed in Ward 33, I have initiated or worked to support projects started by poor residents. In fact Berea Mail has published articles about some of these projects.
Therefore it is inaccurate to say that I “have no mandate from Ward 33”.
Neither do I start programmes only for election purposes. The burning question is what has the party that Graham belongs to done for the poor and working people of the ward since 1994, or what has she done since becoming ward councillor?
She must learn to stop running to the papers before going to work with the people.
PR Councillor Judy Mulqueeny
Ward 33
