Johannesburg - Gauteng MEC for Human Settlements and Co-operative Governance Jacob Mamabolo and municipal councillors have vowed to speed up service delivery in various violence-torn areas south of Joburg.
Mamabolo’s pledge came after a series of violent service delivery protest hit the townships of Thembelihle in Lenasia, Bekkersdal on the West Rand and Boiketlong in the Vaal in recent weeks.
During the announcements on Monday, Mamabolo lambasted the organisers of a protest last Friday in Bekkersdal. The Greater Westonaria Concerned Residents Association led a protest to the municipal building at the weekend, demanding that the mayor of Westonaria, Nonkoliso Tundzi, resign.
They also demanded the tabling of the auditor-general’s report into corruption in the town.
But Mamabolo had none of it. Without mentioning the residents’ association by name, he said the group had organised young schoolchildren and drug addicts to take part in the protests.
“We know why they called a protest march. Some of them have intentions to stand as candidates in the local government elections. These are people who have an unwavering commitment to violence. They take advantage of people and drug addicts to mobilise (them) to commit acts of violence.
“When the police act, the engineers of the violence are nowhere to be found - it is young children and drug addicts who are tortured by the police,” Mamabolo said.
The “so-called service delivery protests” were also used as a cover to attack foreigners.
Mamabolo said a service provider had been appointed in Bekkersdal to begin with the upgrade of its sewer network.
“The service provider is on site. We are due to complete the process of the appointment of a community liaison officer, who must come from the local community. The project will start on Wednesday.
“The sewer network inherited from the old Transvaal cannot manage. We have also subcontracted local people. All the glitches which delayed the upgrade have been resolved,” Mamabolo said.
He said 20 VIP toilets would be installed in the informal settlement and the number was likely to increase.
Mamabolo and Tundzi also announced an electrification project for all informal settlements in Bekkersdal. Tundzi said more than 300 local people would be employed at the new sewer upgrade network. She gave details about their partnership with Pikitup to clean up and improve waste management in the area. Tundzi said 84 people had been identified to work alongside Pikitup employees. Pikitup was due to spend the rest of the year in the area until a thorough clean-up had been done.
Mamabolo said the government had set aside money to conduct a study on the dolomitic state of the land in Thembelihle with a view to identifying land suitable for housing.
There has been conflict with the authorities in the area for more than a decade, with some residents resisting government plans to relocate them to neighbouring areas. Even though more than 2 000 people were relocated to the newly built community of Lehae near Vlakfontein, others replaced them.
The communities have had long-running battles with the City of Joburg and provincial government over the approval of the construction of a mall in the area, while claiming that the land was dolomitic.
On Monday, Mamabolo said studies had found that it was suitable to build light-industrial parks in dolomitic places, but not houses.
The Star