Sasolburg - A public Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) meeting in Zamdela outside Sasolburg, in the Free State, was cancelled on Wednesday because of a protest, the board said.
“When the MDB became aware that there was protest meeting planned, we decided to cancel today's (Wednesday's) meeting,” MDB CEO Gabusile Gumbi-Masilela said.
“The process in which we are engaged in should be conducted in a conducive environment, and the community involved in the march was the same stakeholder targeted for the public meeting.”
Gumbi-Masilela said the board had not known a service delivery protest was planned for Wednesday. The meeting was cancelled until further notice.
She said the march had nothing to do with the public participation process, and said lack of service delivery should not be confused with the determination of boundaries.
“The re-determination of boundaries is geared towards ensuring that communities and stakeholders that reside in the affected areas benefit from this process,” she said.
“Community members and stakeholders of the Metshimaholo and Ngwathe municipalities have always expressed the desire to engage with MDB to make their views on the issue of amalgamation of the municipalities.”
The MDB was scheduled to hold a public meeting in Sasolburg at 10am to give residents an update on the proposed merger of the Metsimaholo municipality, in Sasolburg, with the Ngwathe municipality, in Parys.
In January, four people were killed, several were injured and hundreds arrested during protests against the proposed merger. Several cars were set alight and government buildings were damaged in Zamdela.
Zamdela was quiet on Wednesday afternoon after hundreds of residents marched to the municipal buildings to deliver a memorandum in which they demanded that Metsimaholo mayor Brutus Mahlaku step down within seven days.
Police spokesman Constable Peter Kareli said the protest was peaceful, that police had kept an eye on the situation, and that only one case of damage to property had been reported.
Public order police would remain in Zamdela until local police were sure everything had returned to normal.
Council speaker Sello Matena told the marchers their claims of corruption and wasteful expenditure would be investigated, including those against him and Mahlaku. The council had set up a committee for this purpose.
The residents have accused Matena and Mahlaku of corruption. Mahlaku allegedly spent R4 million on personal security, and Matena allegedly used a council credit card to pay for liquor.
Matena said this was the first he had heard of the allegations against him. He said residents' anger at the cancellation of a MDB meeting was valid.
“That process is run by (the) demarcation board. I'm still waiting for the reason (why it was cancelled).”
Metsimaholo Concerned Residents' Committee chairman Lucky Malebo was upset about the postponement.
“(The board) got a letter from the premier's office that they had to postpone the meeting. This tells us that we cannot even trust the MDB. It is being influenced by (Free State Premier Ace Magashule),” he said.
African National Congress provincial executive committee member Mpho Ramakasta said Magashule should not have interfered.
“Magashule has taken the law unto himself. He must stop interfering.”
He said the independence of statutory bodies needed to be respected.
“We all want this process to be open, fair and transparent. Our advice to those interfering is to back off.” - Sapa