the arena of progressive thought

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ZIWAPHI • VOL 4 NO 7 • 9 - 22 APRIL 2010

This is the question that people are beginning to ask after the provincial government introduced stringent measures to control access to the provincial government complex at Riverside Park recently.

Jackson Mthembu, who was the MEC for Public Works when the construction of the building started in 1998 said, the building was designed to “provide an accessible friendly environment for interaction with the public.”

The building which was one of only three buildings in South African that were nominated for the 2002 World Architecture Awards has become anything but an accessible friendly environment for interaction with the public.

A Nelspruit based business man, who refused to be named for fear of reprisals described the access to the building as a “nightmare”.

“You have to leave your vehicle near the exit and walk almost a kilometer, wearing a suit, a tie and a white shirt in the sweltering heat of Nelspruit, carrying lap tops and other heavy gadgets. Get frustrated at the gates. If you have forgotten your Identity Document or drivers’ licence, you have to go back, and by the time you reach the Office of the Premier, you are sweating and smelly, It is a nightmare to do business with government since the new administration took over,” he said.

A team from Ziwaphi secretly visited the premises to verify the allegations, and indeed when we tried to enter the complex we were told to go park the vehicle at an open field, about 150 to 200 metres from the entrance.

There was, however, no parking space, and vehicles were already overflowing to the street leading to the entrance. We were then forced to park the vehicle at the Riverside Mall parking, which is not free.

Two of our team members did not have their ID’s and the last time they carried these was under apartheid, when it was compulsory for black people to carry their dompass.

A policeman refused them entry, and they had to go back to the car, while I made my long trip to the Office of the Premier. By the time I reached the Office of the Premier my clothes were drenched with sweat.

I made a U-Turn and headed back to the entrance. I fielded a few questions to an unsuspecting policeman, who was not so polite.

“It is the MEC for Safety who has given us the instruction, because visitors are stealing lap tops when they are allowed to bring their vehicles into the premises,” he said.

In what seemed like an afterthought, he changed his tune, “We are also unhappy about the situation, but we have received orders,” he said.

The question that rang in my mind was, ‘is this what National Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele was talking about when he said “police must be ordered and not managed” when he introduced the new ranking system for the police?’

A crew from a television station vowed never to go back to the government complex as they were also subjected to the same procedure with heavy TV cameras on the day it was raining very heavily in Nelspruit.

Government remains adamant that the building remains accessible, and that they have introduced the measures to improve the security for politicians after the complex was declared a “National Key Point” (See full response).

When I reached our vehicle, my colleagues were no longer there! They had decided to refresh at a coffee shop at the Mall. I joined them and I was as smelly as hell.

“Are these the warning shots from the Mabuza administration?” Comrade Spikiri asked rhetorically as he took a sip from his strawberry flavoured milkshake.

He knew that it was our duty to find out, and when the response eventually came from government, Comrade Mzala who could not access the building because he has even given up on his efforts of getting a drivers licence, said:

“This is what I call a government of the people, by the people for the politicians and civil servants,” said the controversial Comrade Mzala.