Makopane – Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs minister David van Rooyen on Wednesday said Mogalakwena municipality in Limpopo needed urgent intervention to avert the further collapse of service delivery.
“The management of the municipality is non-existent and, of course, we will intervene to make sure our people in Mogalakwena get the basic service we think they deserve better,” Van Rooyen told reporters after a meeting with the council which followed a protracted three week strike by municipal workers.
Van Rooyen visited the council as part of efforts aimed at resolving the ongoing crisis which has grounded service delivery in the area.
According to van Rooyen, key positions in the municipality have been vacant amind ongoing political squabbling dating back to 2014.
Municipal manager Willy Kekana was forced out, while the chief financial officer and other senior director posts are still to be filled.
In the midst of council workers downing tools, cabbages have been left to rot in the streets of the Central Business District, while the municipality premises have been locked for the past three weeks.
Workers have demanded that management address their problems and that expelled workers are reinstated.
Van Rooyen said of the intervention: “We are doing this not only for the workers, but we are doing this for all our people.
“We should reassure our people as government that they would get the services, we are going to leave no stone unturned and we are going to spare no efforts to resolve the situation here in Mogalakwena,” said Van Rooyen.
Van Rooyen said once a proper management team had been constituted, workers would be able to return to work and engage further regarding their grievances.
On Friday last week the North Gauteng High Court ruled that municipal manager Kekana’s expulsion was unconstitutional and ordered that he be reinstated.
But on Tuesday, Cooperative Governance, Housing and Traditional Affairs MEC Makoma Makhurupetje said the provincial government was appealing the high court decision.
“The Department has since studied the content of the judgment and has decided to lodge an appeal. The decision to appeal is based on the department’s conviction that the appellate division could arrive at a different outcome,” said Makhurupetje.
On Wednesday Van Rooyen expressed the fear that the eventual decision may re-trigger instability in the area and further indicated that his department would work with the provincial government and municipality to restore service delivery.
Residents said the battle in the municipality was troubling as they had been left without essential services.
“We feel like we are being punished for crimes we did not commit,” said resident Mahlako Phosa. She had her electricity and other services cut off, and said any attempts to get this attended to had failed due to the ongoing strike.
African News Agency
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