LETTER: Those in authority are clueless

Cape Muslim Congress councillor Yagyah Adams writes that the transportation system is unwise as it adds to the daily traffic congestion and increases the carbon footprint that harms the milieu of people who cannot afford it to begin with.Picture Cindy Waxa.

Cape Muslim Congress councillor Yagyah Adams writes that the transportation system is unwise as it adds to the daily traffic congestion and increases the carbon footprint that harms the milieu of people who cannot afford it to begin with.Picture Cindy Waxa.

Published Feb 26, 2023

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Most problems are created by people who use the methodology of stupidity. Yes, stupidity can be a practice/procedure/approach or system. How else can we explain load shedding, increased cost of water and other problems that have practical solutions but which are ignored by the authorities?

I have attended enough seminars to know that solutions are available as they exist elsewhere.

For example, the Cape Argus’s headline, “Taxi bosses lift the blockade on scholar transport” (February 16) is an example of stupidity. A few years ago, the Cape Argus published a letter in which I offered a practical solution to the needless mass transportation of learners into the surrounding City of Cape Town.

As a resident of Walmer Estate, it is evident the majority of learners at local schools are transported. This includes taxis offloading learners on to the N2, and it is a matter of time before chaos erupts. Learners are not valued, as taxis offload on to the N2 instead of a few metres on to the off-ramp.

This transportation is unwise as it adds to the daily traffic congestion and increases the carbon footprint that harms the milieu of people who cannot afford it to begin with.

The solution is simple. The learners from Walmer Estate attend school elsewhere as parents pay to send their children to betterresourced schools, etc. Middle-class parents also have fewer children and all the learners in Walmer Estate could not fill the schools in the area as there are not that many learners.

Therefore, instead of transporting children over great distances, the authorities must sell the schools and use the money to build better-resourced schools near the learners. This will save learners two hours of daily in travel time and money in transport costs, etc. Consider the reality in winter when it is cold and dark. Learners rise at 5.30am to travel from wherever to Walmer Estate. Is this fair on a 12-year-old?

Since land is more valuable near the city and can be sold at massive profits and progress contributes greatly towards the rate base, ratepayers must consider the economics of our existing reality.

The reality is that after 30 years, District 6 restitution is a joke and after 15 years of load shedding it is obvious that those in authority are clueless. They simply do not know how to solve problems, since most in political authority have never had a business or built anything by themselves. They lack skills.

Voters must grasp that if they do not vote for realistic choices, they will lose the little they have. Voting for those who sell fake realities means you are not realistic and maybe deserve to be deluded.

* Cape Muslim Congress councillor Yagyah Adams.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.

Cape Argus

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