Kimberley -
Residents in Barkly West have vowed to shut down the town and barricade roads with rocks and burning tyres should the MEC for Co-operative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (Coghsta), Alvin Botes, not provide feedback to them in person at the Mataleng Stadium on Wednesday.
By Monday Coghsta officials were not aware of any meeting that was arranged involving the MEC and the community.
A memorandum making allegations of corruption and theft of council funds was handed to Botes on January 22.
Residents in the area are also calling for the resignation of councillors and the mayor.
Botes had promised to attend to all service delivery complaints within a space of two weeks, and the deadline expires on Wednesday.
Spokesman of the Dikgatlong Community Youth Concerned Group, Super Selemogo, said that very little progress had been made so far on their grievances.
“The MEC was supposed to come to Barkly West last week to address housing issues. The community were expecting that their plots be surveyed and nothing has happened. We don’t want to close schools but we are willing to go to extreme measures in order to make our voices heard.”
He added that they would provide loud speakers, amplifiers, marshals and security for the MEC, should he feel threatened.
“We have not been informed about a time for the meeting but we hope to get more clarity by today.”
Meanwhile, a sanitation substation that pumps sewage from De Beershoogte, Spitskop, the Professor ZK Matthews hospital and the Barkly West Correctional Centre was set alight last week, resulting in an overflow at the intersection between Mataleng and De Beershoogte.
Selemogo indicated that this was not the work of the concerned group because it affected service delivery.
“We condemn the burning of the substation and urge the municipality to repair it immediately. There are factions who wish to take over the municipality and are competing for positions by trying to make the current leadership look incompetent.”
He added that the former spokesman of the Dikgatlong Community Youth Concerned Group, Kagisho Nyatyawa, was arrested last week and detained at the Kimberley Correctional Centre after being charged for public violence.
“The community will stage a picket outside the Barkly West Magistrate’s Court when he appears for a bail application on Wednesday.
He was brutally assaulted by the police when he was arrested.”
Selemogo added that Nyatyawa was being targeted.
“If they want to arrest him, they should arrest all of us because we are all fighting for the same cause.”
He added that the whole of Barkly West was plunged into darkness over the weekend due to problems with the municipal electricity substation.
A Barkly West resident, Yolandi Beets, said all her meat and perishable food stuffs had been spoilt because of the constant power cuts.
“If we have power for four hours per day, it is a lot. I don’t accept that it could have been an act of sabotage if the whole town was affected. Who will pay for my damages,” she asked.
Dikgatlong municipal manager, Herholdt Robertson, said damages caused to the sanitation substation were estimated at a cost of around R1 million.
“The control panels were burnt and I am waiting for the insurance to pay out the claim. In the meantime, we are manually sucking the sewage drains into a reservoir and transporting it to Delportshoop. One of the trucks broke down and we are hoping to get another vehicle from the Frances Baard District Municipality.”
He added that no truck would enter Mataleng because there was a risk of their vehicles being targeted by protesters.
Robertson also said that the municipality was still waiting for a valuation on the repairs of one of the transformers at the electricity substation.
“Our workers are on site and we are aware of the electricity interruptions. We can not confirm the reason for the shortages. It could be due to heavy rains, lightning or sabotage, we do not know.”
He added that an electrical unit manager, who appeared in the Barkly West Magistrate’s Court last week, had not been suspended.
“He was placed on sick leave after experienced some complications and had to be re-admitted to hospital. He fell down the steps of the court building and injured his back. The charges are not work-related.”
Police spokesman, Lieutenant Sergio Kock, said the man was charged with attempted murder after he allegedly stabbed a police officer at the Barkly West Police Station on December 24 2014.
“The officer was attending to a complaint when the incident took place. A case of attempted murder was opened and the suspect was arrested and charged. He appeared in court and was released on bail. The case is still under investigation.”
He also indicated that Kagisho Nyatyawa was arrested by police last week for public violence.
“The case has been remanded till Wednesday for a formal bail application. No case of assault was opened against the police relating to his allegation.”
Spokesman for Coghsta, Xhanti Teki, said they were not aware of any follow-up meetings this week between the MEC and the community.
He indicated that they were working with the Dikgatlong Municipality and the community on service delivery issues in order to bring stability to the area.
“It is not something that can be resolved overnight because it is an ongoing process. Some of the issues, such as street lights and clean ups, have begun.
“The department conducted a housing needs analysis in Dikgatlong. The National Home Builder Registration Council and the Construction Industry Development Board, as stakeholders, attended the community interactions and registered those who have an interest in the construction industry,” Teki added.
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