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West Rand District: Municipality at risk of being put under administration

It is has now become very clear that there is absolutely nothing honourable about how MEC Lebogang Maile fails to ensure that all municipalities in the province, particularly the District Municipalities, are run in an open and transparent manner.

On the 10th December 2021 I tried to raise the manner in which delegates from the Rand West City Local Municipality were elected to serve on the West Rand District Municipality in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature through a member statement. However, my attempt to do so failed due to the ineptitude of the Legislature Chairperson.

During the election process earlier this month, the Speaker of the Rand West City Local Municipality produced his own ballot box and ballot papers when the council met, as he was not happy with the delegates elected through a voting process overseen by the IEC.

It has now emerged through social media posts, that because the West Rand District Municipality failed to be properly constituted by the 17 December 2021, the MEC for Cooperative Governance can now appoint an administrator to run the District Municipality.

When the DA was still in the process of electing its Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMC), the MEC was very vocal on this issue, but now that it is own party that has failed to follow due process, he is mum on the matter.

It is evident that this is not democracy at work as residents are now not being properly represented by their chosen political party in the West Rand District Municipality.

The DA will not rest until this matter is resolved in order for our residents to receive proper service delivery from local government. Our residents don’t deserve these continued petty political games that hampers proper service delivery in the West Rand.

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All parents need urgent certainty about the placing of their children in schools

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is urging Gauteng Education MEC, Panyaza Lesufi to ensure that all learners are placed before schools open on Wednesday.

It is extremely regrettable that parents are not sure whether their children will be placed, so they are unable to buy uniforms, arrange transport where needed and buy stationery.

The DA believes that there should be no child of school-going age who have to stay at home because there is no space available.

The DA will be proposing to the MEC for Education that online admission for grade 1 and 8 be opened before May and be concluded before September this year.

This will ensure that schools with high demand are identified and are allocated more resources before the new academic year.

Furthermore, this will also avoid last minute interventions where resources are allocated in January and February while learners are losing out on valuable teaching and learning time.

The past two years have been characterised by disruptions due to COVID-19 and therefore the department must move with speed to ensure that learners can cover the lost learning and teaching time.

The lack of communication is causing anxiety and frustration amongst parents who applied on time but are still uncertain as to whether their children have a space or not. The department must place all children before Wednesday.