So whilst I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend in the small sleepy town of Newcastle with family and friends, I left the town quite disturbed after the residents related a few unfortunate incidents to me. For a start, the crime in the Newcastle region has escalated with almost 30 burglaries recorded over a two month period. Many of the residents firmly believe that the police are directly involved in many of these crimes. With regards to medical care, it was brought to my attention that the Newcastle provincial hospital has been turned into a mother infant care facility only thereby providing no other medical facilities. In a recent incident that occurred in the town, a young man was stabbed during an altercation with a few men.He was found bleeding profusely. He made it to the provincial hospital only to be turned away by medical staff and security present at the hospital. He had to drive a further 20 km to Madadeni hospital and on arriving at the hospital he died due to the excessive loss of blood. No one is prepared to take the blame. The residents have signed partitions and handed it to the local government officials but thus far nothing has been done about the current situation. The mayor of Newcastle has not acknowledged the grievances of the local residents. He is the same mayor that has laid a charge against a traffic official who mistook him for being a member of the Gupta family. Many residents believe that this was merely a publicity stunt on his part and questioned the fact that why hasn't serious issues like the lack of proper government medical facilities and high crime rates within the area not been addressed with such vigour and priority. Perhaps the mayor is simply on the graveytrain like the rest of this country's government officials. The situation proves yet again that the ruling ANC government has failed the citizens of this country when it comes to service delivery. This is bound to happen when lawlessness and corruption seems to be the order of the day....
