Pretoria - Weeds now cover all the burnt remnants of a home of new Finance Minister David van Rooyen in Khutsong township near Carletonville.
But to his neighbours, the wasteland where the home stood is a constant reminder of his sacrifices. As Van Rooyen was sworn in as finance minister on Thursday as shocks rippled through markets to replace Nhlanhla Nene, some Khutsong residents had only praise for the man who was once loathed while he was mayor.
Van Rooyen presided over a controversial and fiery demarcation debacle after the area was incorporated into North West from Gauteng before the decision was rescinded.
Ultimately, he paid the price when residents burnt down his home and those of other councillors.
On Thursday, neighbours in the area where he once lived sang a different tune, claiming he “took the beating for a decision made elsewhere”.
“He paid dearly for his loyalty to the ANC,” said Mokete Mosia, a neighbour and former uMkhonto weSizwe soldier, recruited by Van Rooyen. “Now people here wish he could come back because a lot of things got worse than when he was mayor. He is an honest man but he is not a coward. He served this community with utmost dedication.”
Another resident, Nnini Lebakeng, said Van Rooyen’s only mistake was to be party to the decision that tried to incorporate the area into North West. “We have forgiven him. He is a good man if you take away that sticking sore thing when he said we should be moved to North West,” she said.
“At the time, he didn’t consult with us properly but we are now proud of him as a minister.’
Des, as Van Rooyen is fondly known in Khutsong, lived in the Batswaneng section of Khutsong with his brother Hendrick, 50, who now lives in a shack. Hendrick, who described his brother as humble and polite, said Van Rooyen had hinted some change was going to happen in his life. That was a week ago.
“He said he was moving forward,” recalled Hendrick. “He deserves that position because he fought during the Struggle. He was excellent at school despite the difficulties.”
He added: “I now want him to come fix my shack because it is in a terrible state. We've had no home to live in since they burnt our house.”
Mosia, who spent nearly a decade with Van Rooyen in exile in Mozambique, insisted the new minister was unfairly targeted for criticism.
But Van Rooyen doesn’t seem to have the affection of other residents.
Fola Kgaulaolwe said he had nothing good to say about him as he had betrayed the people who elected him by agreeing that Merafong municipality be moved from Gauteng. “He may well be a good man but he was a disaster,” Kgaulaolwe said.
“This municipality is still badly run but that is part of his legacy.”
Thabo Foteng, a local councillor who served with Van Rooyen, said people need to give him a chance.
“He found our municipality in the red when he was appointed as mayor. When he left he had turned it around; it could run its own projects. The council's finances had more than R300 million in reserve.
“When there was an unpopular decision on redrawing municipal borders and people didn’t like that, including Des. He was disciplined and didn’t want to deviate.”
Pretoria News
* Use IOL’s Facebook and Twitter pages to comment on our stories. See links below.