Page 2 — December 2008 The Midlands Herald

Community leaders
endorse Lauren de Scally

“Howick needs a strong team to keep local
government clean and accountable. The DA
councillors in uMngeni have performed
splendidly in this role, and I have no doubt
that Lauren de Scally will add considerably to
the strength of this team.”
- John Tungay Hon. Life Vice President:
Umngeni Chamber of Commerce and
Industry; Vice-President KZN Chamber of
Business.
“Lauren de Scally is the kind of councillor
Howick needs: determined, committed and
courageous. She has my 100% support.”
- Dr Bronwen Schoenfeld: Local Plastic
Surgeon
“Lauren de Scally is a team player and a
determined, energetic and highly capable
WARD 2
businesswoman. She will add considerable value BY-ELECTION
to our town of Howick. I believe that the grit and
determination she has shown as a Comrades
athlete and mother of two will equip her for the Wednesday, 10 December
challenging task of being our councillor. I
therefore have no hesitation in endorsing her as
our candidate.” - Dr Mark Stead: Local
General Practitioner
Keep your
“When Lauren de Scally commits to any
undertaking, she puts her heart and soul into
ward DA!
making it a success. I believe she will make
a formidable councillor.”
- Dr Pete Johnston: Local Veterinarian

ELECTION UPDATE:
On going to print, Dr Ian Player joined other prominent Howick
personalities in endorsing Lauren de Scally as the candidate of
choice in the Howick Ward 2 by-election.
uMngeni and Mpofana
may evaluate each other
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At the last sitting of council the format of
the annual performance assessments of the
highly-paid municipal management was
changed to include a committee comprising
the mayor of uMngeni together with the
mayor and the municipal manager of
Mpofana.
Whilst municipal manager Dumisani
Vilakazi was keen to have the municipal
manager and mayor of Mpofana as members
of his review team, the DA caucus favoured
the oversight role of a “more functional
municipality” and one known to be not so
“cosy” with the uMngeni management —
namely the municipal manager of Msunduzi
Rob Haswell.
Out-voted by the ANC caucus, the DA
caucus thereupon requested that a further
item be added to the resolution, precluding
uMngeni from sitting on Mpofana’s Review
Committee, to avoid the possibility evolving
of a reciprocal “I-scratch-your-back-you-
scratch-mine” arrangement. This too was
Municipality’s
dubious
animal pound
uMngeni Municipality’s provision of
pound facilities for animals —
stipulated in the KZN Pounds Act of 2006
— is in dire need of investigation.
In a curious move, in May 2008 the tender
to operate a pound on behalf of uMngeni
was awarded to a cattle trader named Richard
Ndlovu — for an annual payment of
R625 000.
Yet the Mpophomeni Cattle Traders
Association has stated that it itself will not
deal with Mr Ndlovu.
The Pounds Act of 2006 sets out specific
regulations in order to assure the welfare of
the animals in its care.
However, according to Cllr Pam
Passmoor, these regulations are being flouted
on a daily basis.
The
Midlands Herald
“Never mind the fact that there is
something decidedly dubious about the
granting of this tender to a cattle trader who
the community is refusing to deal with,” she
said to The Herald, “there is only one
paddock and Ndlovu’s own cattle are kept
with the impounded animals.”
She also claimed that the animals’ daily
needs are not being attended to, as they have
no shelter and no on-site water supply.
In her opinion, the business side of this
arrangement also needs further investigation
as the previous impounding arrangements
resulted in no cost to the municipality,
whereas this service agreement is costing
the ratepayer more than R600 000 a year.
In terms of the KZN Pounds Act of 2006,
a municipality must provide animal pound
facilities, either through a service provider
or by operating its own pound.
In previous years, uMngeni used Buster
Matteson’s organization, Cow Catchers CC,
which serves other municipalities in
KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.

HOWICK PMB
By appointment at:
HILTON ESTCOURT
out-voted. Reflecting on Mr Vilakazi’s recent
vehicle accident, when he was arrested he Read all In contrast to the present arrangement,
Cow Catchers’ service generated an income
Howick Wembley Hilton
Pharmacy Pharmacy Pharmacy
Medical Hall
Pharmacy
used his right to make one telephone call —
to ‘phone the municipal manager of Mpofana about it of R16 882 in 2007 and cost the municipality
Tel. 033-330 3404 or 082-444 5426
to come to his assistance! nothing.