MILLIONS SPEND ON A DISASTER MANAGEMENT CENTRE BY UGU WHAT ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE REPAIR?

Millions have been spend on a Disaster Management centre as outlined in the media, yet there are limited funds available for infrastructure repair and management. It is evident that infrastructure is not up to scratch in the UGU district and that money can not be spend without prioritising its needs. A disaster management plan needs to be made public to the petitioners of this petition, as this should have been the number 1 priority following earlier similar disasters, that residents of the South coast had to endure. Criminal investigations should have been underway a long time ago. Every disaster forces UGU to go into survival mode to get the water flowing... instead of finding the cause of such major disasters. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development said the Criminal Matters Amendment Bill [B20-2015] intends to deal with the theft, tampering with or destruction of essential infrastructure. The Bill seeks to amend the Criminal Procedure Act provisions on bail to place a reverse onus on people accused of infrastructure related crimes, meaning that they have to prove that it is in the interests of justice for them to be released. Further, the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1997 which regulates minimum sentences will be amended to include essential infrastructure-related crimes are subject to a specific range of minimum sentences. Offences relating to essential infrastructure creates a new offence in clause 3 : It criminalises the unlawful and intentional tampering with or damaging or destroying of essential infrastructure and provides for the possibility of the imposition of a severe penalty, namely imprisonment which may be up to 30 years. The creation of this offence provides an opportunity for the Legislature to emphasise the seriousness of this offence by allowing for the imposition by courts of a harsh sentence and to ensure that legislation is in place to regulate this aspect adequately instead of having to rely on the common law offence of malicious damage to property, which is often regarded as a minor offence. It will furthermore include political related sabotage and vandalism of essential service infrastructure. THESE FACTS NEED TO BE RELAYED TO UGU EMPLOYEES.