Here in Buffalo City we are doing a micro-economic gesture that will only worsen the problem. We sell what little land we own to speculators who will make big bucks out of development and leave crumbs for the poor. A luxury golf-course and five-star hotel in Gonubie, a supermarket in Selborne, and a series of smaller elite developments in many places.

No land for such things should be sold to the private sector. The council is blind to the idea that it holds a valuable asset that must be used for the benefit of the poor.

It needs to have its own direct labour force that can build housing on that land for renting at low cost.

It is just as criminal to sell land as it is to put up pre-paid water meters among the shacks.

Hemingways was built on land that had been owned by the council. This was sold to a speculator who sold it on to the casino group a year later for 10 times what he paid for it.

The council cannot exist to serve the needs of big companies and the previously over-advantaged. It must demand double the equitable share it gets from central government and serve its people directly without expensive outsourcing of services.

Balancing books comes a distant second to serving the needs of the people. Didn't the Freedom Charter promise as much - or has it become the Freedom Cheater? - Costa Gazi, Vincent

There could be only one reason for this malpractice: those who do it are themselves incompetent and insecure cowards who fear competition and lack management skills which they can use to allay their paranoia and thus opt for the easy route of surrounding themselves with buddies, cronies and comrades.

Tell me, whatever happened to merit?

Haven't they ever heard of the term "in-breeding"? Do they really believe that the meagre 500000-strong national ANC membership can have answers to all the South African problems in government, state parastatals, local government etc in a country of over 54 million people?

No wonder service delivery is in shambles. They must be men/women enough to hire "non-ANC members" on merit.

They can take a leaf out of President Thabo Mbeki's book. He is advised by Mojanko Gumbi, a PAC member, Nepad is headed by Professor Nkuhlu, an academic, and many more placed in so-called "strategic positions". - Siphiwo Velelo, Mthatha

Selective terrorism

IT WAS with deep sadness I heard of the bomb blasts in London which resulted in the deaths and maiming of so many innocent people.

What a bunch of hypocrites both the British and American governments are; they say they are against terrorism and yet they supported the terrorists in Zimbabwe who murdered defenceless villagers and men, woman and children on the farms.

What, may I ask, is the difference between evil cowards who crash planes into buildings in America, and the ones who shot down two planes in Zimbabwe, and then murdered the survivors?

There was barely a murmur of sympathy from either of the governments; in fact the silence was deafening.

Both these governments were warned of the consequences for Zimbabwe under the rule of Zanu(PF) and Robert Mugabe, but the warnings were ignored.

Now the people of Zimbabwe are starving while Mugabe and his gangsters live in luxury, in fact it has been reported that he is to spend over a million on his wedding anniversary bash. He stands and waves his arms around telling the people about the wonderful freedom they have; it would be a laugh if it were not so sad.

Maybe if these evil cowards had been stopped then and recognised for what they really were, the fight against terrorism could have started then, but it seems to me they are only terrorists if they attack Britain or America. - Pat De Lange, Nelspruit

Thanks, kind souls!

I WAS involved in an accident on July 26 at 7.45pm in Voortrekker Road and would like to thank the following people: