Port Elizabeth: MyPE - Petrol bombing mires Zosa Street progress event

www.MyPE.co.za: The throwing of a petrol bomb at the house of an ANC-member and Zosa Street Action Committee member, Glen Harmse, mired the excitement that was coupled with a visit of high-ranking municipal officials to the nearby Zosa Street today.

Harmse's house in Kensington was petrol bombed around the same time Executive Mayor Zanoxolo Wayile delivered a heartfelt speech on the site where duplex and semi-detached houses are being erected for the impoverished community of this area that were declared a slum area as far back as 1936.

While Mayor Wayile's message mentioned that it should not be a time for electioneering since 2011 will be a time to take political messages to communities, it could be around the same time when Harmse heard glass broke while being busy at the back of his house around 10:20.

"To my shock and horror I saw that my gate was open, flames were visible at my door and a dead dog was conspicuously lying in front of my gate. My daughter and I ran to the washing machine to get water to extinguish the flames. I am not sure what to think about the dead dog that was left in front of my house. I am sure that it wasn't there before the incident occurred," Harmse said.

Damage to the political activist's house was limited to broken glass, petrol in his gutter that didn't ignite and the gory sight of new screws that were part of the content that the petrol bomb was made of.

Deputy Executive Mayor Nancy Sihlwayi said the attack could be linked to the activity at Zosa Street since government is dismantling the nationalist political agenda that was aimed at letting our communities live in squalor.

"This tells us how cruel they are and they don't have humanity," Deputy Executive Mayor Sihlwayi added.

The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality is currently building 32 duplex units and two semi-detached houses at a cost of R3,8 million and judging by the excitement of the residents who came to join in the celebrations, this development is long overdue.

Executive Mayor Wayile said this is not the last time that his political team and government officials will visit Zosa Street.

"We are going to come back with a Zosa Street Family Day and we will bring different government services to this street so that this community can benefit.

"We would like to galvanize the community of Zosa Street, Gelvandale and the rest of the Northern Areas so that we can move forward as a united front," Mayor Wayile added.

Editors Notes: It is with great sadness that I read the above press release from the Municipality. I have visions of the ruling party hoping that the public will now imagine a member of the official opposition, such as Terry Herbst, hurling a petrol bomb at home of the Zosa Street Action Committee member (if you know Terry you will know how absolutely ridiculous that thought is!).

If memory serves me correctly Terry Herbst started his crusade for the remedying of the plight of the residents of Zosa Street after the fall of the apartheid regime and after the installation of a normal democracy in 1994 and as a Councilor for the area.

For our Deputy Mayor to say; "....the attack could be linked to the activity at Zosa Street since government is dismantling the nationalist political agenda that was aimed at letting our communities live in squalor", is indicative of the assumption of some people that Nancy not only sleeps through council and other meetings but has also slept through the last 20 years and missed the dismantling of apartheid and the dissolution of the Nationalist Government completely.

Just because you know someone who thinks they know someone who seems to recall that they threw a petrol bomb during the struggle, doesn't mean that ALL opposition political parties resort to violence and the throwing of petrol bombs. The closest that Terry and his mates will get to violence will be the violent expulsion of dog excreta onto the pristine beaches of Port Elizabeth as that is the only form of protest known to "those people who walk their dogs and then write letters to The Herald".

Now that the Zosa Street residents have got what Terry Herbst campaigned for all these years it is sad that we have to be subjected to mind numbingly stupid rhetoric dribbling from stupid electioneering politicians, who have just woken up to realise that an election is around the corner. Why can't we rather celebrate with the residents and not sully their dignity with puffed up antics?

And, Mr Mayor, I hope and pray that your words are not entirely prophetic when you said; "........ and we will bring different government services to this street .........."

Come on guys - if you beat a dog enough it will flinch every time you look at it.

The South African public are not dogs - they have a modicum of intelligence and see through your electioneering and misuse of municipal communications channels in order to score cheap political points.

Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Contacts.