THOUSANDS of residents from the Ngaka Modiri Molema District in the North West Province came in their multitudes at the Mmabatho Stadium on Saturday to raise service delivery challenges and poor living conditions in the region with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa, wearing a black suit and blue striped-shirt, was in Mafikeng to launch the first ever post-State of the Nation Address Presidential Imbizo, a community engagement platform aimed at ensuring that “no-one will be left behind as government works with all sectors of society to move the country forward”.
The Presidential Imbizo platform is an important means of ensuring South African citizens are heard and involved in the development of their communities, said COGTA Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, co-chair of the inaugural Presidential Imbizo in her opening remarks.
“The Presidential Imbizo is about listening and engaging with communities. We must confront our challenges head-on as a people. We are all here with President Ramaphosa and Cabinet ministers to listen to you and to get advice from yourselves and to learn from yourselves and to report to Cabinet on what is being done to address your service delivery issues so that we can commit to what needs to happen. The President is here to listen to your complaints and problems. This Presidential Imbizo is all about that,” Dlamini-Zuma told the resident of Mafikeng and surrounding areas.
According to COGTA’s Deputy Minister Obed Bapela, the community engagement was the first ever Presidential Imbizo to be launched in South Africa since the dawn of the new democracy in 1994, and Mafikeng was the first place to host the much-anticipated community engagement.
Ramaphosa was accompanied by various Cabinet ministers, among others the Minister of Police Bheki Cele, Tourism Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, COGTA Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu and Defence Minister Thandi Modise.
All five local municipalities under the jurisdiction of Ngaka Modiri Molema District have received poor audit outcomes from the Auditor-General in the last four years.
The NMM has also failed to submit annual financial reports and received an adverse audit opinion despite hiring consultants to the value of R25.6 million which exceeded its finance unit salary allocation by 124%.
Despite being under constitutional intervention five times, NMM is still failing to set an clean administration example to its local municipalities.
The people of the Ngaka Modiri Molema District complained bitterly to Ramaphosa, saying various provincial administrations in the North West have completely ignored their plight, and failed to improve their socio-economic conditions, such as access to compulsory education, safe housing and jobs, including the provision of basic services such as water, electricity and well-maintained roads.
Local residents also complained bitterly about the pothole-infested road between Mafikeng and Rooigrond prison, saying it has become a serious life-threatening risk.
A local resident from the Ngaka Modiri Molema District likened Mafikeng to a barren wasteland with no running water and sanitation, chronic power failures, crime and potholes dotted all over the former capital of the Bophuthatswana homeland.
“Mr President. We are happy to to see you coming here to listen to our problems,” the resident said.
“Mafikeng is a wasteland. It has lost its former glory as one of the most beautiful areas in South Africa. Our roads are not adequately maintained and we have huge potholes in Mafikeng, some as big as a swimming pool. Our infrastructure has been destroyed. Our economic opportunities are now limited. There are no jobs and our children are loitering the streets and taking drugs. We appeal to you and your Cabinet ministers to help us.”
An irate resident from Ratlou District Municipality told Ramaphosa that the local community members registered for RDP houses with the National Housing Register many years ago but they are still on the waiting list and without title deeds, almost 20 years later.
“Some of our RDP houses were given to young people in Bodibe. In our township our people have been without water for 25 years,” said the resident.
“President, please intervene. The Kraaipan Clinic is also not working properly. Elderly people are struggling to get their medicines and general assistance from the clinic. A primary school in our area was also burnt down but it has not been repaired ever since and our children can’t go to school. We have sent letters to the Local Municipality but they have not responded or attended to our queries. The roads are unfinished and totally unusable. The local bridge in our area has also collapsed and buses cannot come or enter our village. We are struggling. Help us President.”
Another resident from Bodibe told Ramaphosa: “We don’t have water since 2012, Mr President. They promised to give us water but nothing has been done. Our elders are dying of hunger and starvation. There are no services to speak of in Bodibe. We have no RDP houses. Our children don’t have jobs. Companies such as Sephaku, PPC Cement and AfriSand, and other local mining companies are not employing our children. No one is employed. Only people from outside are employed. These are our mines. We are the beneficiaries of these mines yet we are marginalised.”
Popular social political commentator Prophet OJ Mongala-Madikong called on Ramaphosa to urgently convene a Kliptown-type congress of the people meeting in order to seize the moment and come up with a radical economic plan for South Africa.
“Let’s have another Kliptown, and discuss the economy, and how to improve the lives of ordinary people in Mafikeng, and other places across in South Africa. We have sent letters to the Office of the President calling on government to address our problems but to no avail. We have not been replied to. We continue to write letters to the Office of the President but he is clearly not receiving and reading them. We are appealing to the Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele to check please our letters and respond to our problems,” said Mongala-Madikong.
Ngaka Modiri Molema District is one of four district municipalities in the North West province, and covers an area of approximately 28 114km².
There are currently 961 960 people living in Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality and it comprises 268 099 households. Currently, there are 640 000 (67.66%) people living in poverty, using the upper poverty line definition, across Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality – this is 3.14% higher than the 621 000 in 2008.
The administration of the district has experienced several challenges in the past few years.
Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality obtained an adverse audit opinion in 2018/19 and disclaimer audit opinion for the past 2 years.
Currently the District is under Section 137 of MFMA in terms of the Financial Recovery Plan which was invoked by the MEC in 2018.
- Inside Politics
