Gauteng Cooperative Governance MEC Jacob Mamobolo Archives

November 1, 2015

Gauteng ANC running scared ahead of municipal elections

Shifting Landscape

The recent reshuffling and cadre deployment of Mayors and officials in local municipalities across the province can mean only one thing: Gauteng cooperative governance MEC Jacob Mamabolo and the provincial ANC are running scared ahead of the 2016 local government elections.

The latest victim of the ANC’s tactics is the Municipal Manager of Lesedi Municipality, Ayanda Makhanya who was placed on precautionary suspension by a council resolution.

MEC Mamabolo has been requested to play a leading role in the statutory 90-day investigation.

Earlier this week, the “Mayor of Sedibeng has replaced the Mayor of Emfuleni, who has been moved to Sedibeng”.

This reeks of fear by the ANC.

Two wrongs certainly do not make a right and MEC Mamabolo’s idea of changing things around is ill-thought.

The MEC would do well should he consider firing poor performing mayors and municipal officials – not deploy them with the hope that the problems faced at these municipalities will disappear.

The only the change that can and will take place is at the ballot box when voters choose the DA to run their local municipalities.

It is a well-known fact that where the DA governs, services are delivered, and life is better.

Media enquiries:

Fred Nel MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

083 863 2427

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September 30, 2015

DA to lay charges over fraudulent Emfuleni stand sales

Illegal Sales

The DA will lay criminal charges of fraud and corruption against Mr Jacob Mhlambi, owner of Siyanqoba Projects, who has allegedly been selling stands in Emfuleni under false pretences.

According to residents of Evaton West extension 7, Mr Mhlambi is allegedly selling stands for R4000 and charging buyers connection fees using the Emfuleni local municipality logo.

In March this year, Emfuleni mayor, Cllr Greta Hlongwane promised residents to investigate fraudulent stand sales, yet to date nothing has been done.

ANC Ties

Residents further allege that Mr Mhlambi has close ties with the local ANC councillor, who is aware of the fraudulent land sales.

Fraud and corruption steal vital public funds and resources from people who rely heavily on government to provide them with a better life.

The DA strongly condemns any actions that deprive people of opportunities, and we will use every avenue available to us to bring perpetrators to book.

To this end the DA will lay the charges at the Evaton SAPS, and at the same time submit questions to cooperative governance and human settlements MEC Jacob Mamabolo demanding a progress report on Mayor Hlongwane’s investigation, and a proposed date of conclusion.

Media enquiries:

Kingsol Chabalala MPL

DA Gauteng Constituency Head – Evaton

060 558 8299

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June 28, 2015

Manhole swallows another toddler in Sebokeng

Tragic Death

The DA is increasingly concerned over the safety of Sebokeng’s children after yet another child fell into a manhole and tragically lost his life.

According to local newspaper reports, four-year-old Mpho Magabi fell into an open manhole near a local playground.

This is the second tragic incident of a toddler dying after falling into an unsecured manhole

In November last year, five-year-old Sibusiso Ndada’s lifeless body was pulled from a manhole almost 24 hours after the incident was reported to local and provincial authorities.

Slow Response Times

To date, neither cooperative governance MEC Jacob Mamabolo nor Emfuleni mayor Greta Hlongwane have properly explained why emergency services failed to respond sooner.

Safety measures in communities play a critical role in ensuring that children are raised in a safe environment. Playgrounds have the specific purpose of allowing children the opportunity to freely express their abilities and grow their motor skills.

To this end the DA will write to MEC Mamabolo and Mayor Hlongwane and demand that urgent attention be paid to open manholes in Sebokeng, and to secure them without delay.

Parents and families should not fear for the lives of children at play.

Media enquiries:

Kingsol Chabalala MPL

DA Gauteng Constituency Head – Emfuleni

060 558 8299

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June 1, 2015

West Rand Residents Object Strongly to Proposed Metro

West Rand

This past weekend residents of the West Rand came out in their numbers to object to the proposed creation of a metropolitan municipality.

On Saturday and Sunday the DA ran a coordinated awareness campaign throughout the Merafong, Mogale City, Westonaria and Randfontein local municipalities, informing residents of the proposals, and that the deadline for objections expires on 5 June.

Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB)

Residents were completely unaware of the proposals and the deadline, but immediately undertook to lodge their objections with the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB), and signed the DA’s petition opposing the metro – which would be lodged as part of our objections.

The DA is strongly opposed to merging these local municipalities into a metro, as we believe that Cooperative Governance Minister Pravin Gordhan and his provincial counterpart Jacob Mamabolo had other avenues to address the host of administrative governance issues plaguing these municipalities.

The Tshwane Experience

The Tshwane experience has also shown that service delivery has not improved when merging poor performing municipalities, despite the fact that municipal rates were increased – as the debt burden is simply too much to bear.

Tshwane had to absorb a cost of R1 billion to accommodate the merge, and was only compensated R20 million by the provincial government.

This week, the MDB is scheduled to host public participation meetings in each of the four municipalities, and the DA calls on the greater public to arrive in their numbers and raise their concerns and/or objections with the board.

The meetings are scheduled as follows:

Tuesday 2 June, Randfontein Council Chamber at 14h00
Wednesday, 3 June, Mogale City, Centenary Hall at 15h00
Thursday 4 June, Westonaria, Banquet Hall at 15h00
Friday 5 June, Carletonville Civic Centre at 15h00

The DA will remain at the forefront of the battle for better service delivery and to prevent the formation of a dysfunctional West Rand Metropolitan Municipality.

Media enquiries:

Solly Msimanga MPL

DA Gauteng Provincial Chairperson

060 558 8308

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March 23, 2015

DA Moves to Stop Illegal Tshwane Land Auctions

The land auctions announced by the City of Tshwane municipality to take place tomorrow (24 March 2015) should be stopped as they are not legal.

In a reply to me last week from the Gauteng MEC for COGTA it transpired that the City did not follow proper public participation processes to determine whether the properties it intended to sell are necessary for current or future municipal service delivery.

Public Not Properly Consulted

It is my view that the public and other stakeholders were not properly consulted to determine whether the land to be auctioned was necessary for municipal service delivery.

At least 11 of the properties are currently zoned as public open space and selling it off could find the City in contravention of its own Spatial Development Framework (SDF), which requires a minimum number of public open spaces required for the city’s population.

In the light of the City’s densification policy, public open spaces are a critical design element.

Click here to view the list of properties on auction (Pdf, 15Mb).

Land for Education and Low Cost Housing

One of the properties offered for sale is currently zoned for education purposes. The report that served before the council to seek approval for the sale of the properties did not indicate whether the Department of Education would require this property for future use as a school.

Properties currently zoned for housing are also among the list, which may impact on the Gauteng government’s plans to deliver housing to the poor.

Land for low cost housing is already scarce and by selling it off land Tshwane worsens the situation. It also goes against Premier David Makhura’s plans to use state owned land to spark development and growth.

Two of the properties are currently zoned as transport hubs and one property earmarked for sale was required as a future transport hub.

Disqualification

There is also concern that some of the properties have rivers, streams and fountains, and may be ecologically sensitive, which disqualifies them from being sold.

It also seems as if the projected prices properties may fetch as presented to the Tshwane Council, were heavily inflated – as many were based on future value after development had taken place.

Current value may be much lower than purported by the Tshwane municipality.

To this end I wrote to Gauteng Cooperative Governance MEC Jacob Mamobolo to urgently intervene in terms of his powers as provided for in the Municipal Systems Act.

In the meantime, the DA will compile a submission to the Office of the Public Protector to investigate the legality of the Tshwane land auctions.

Media enquiries

Fred Nel MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

083 263 2427

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