By Staff Reporter
The Provincial Government, led by the Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, would like to clarify matters surrounding the outcome of various engagements that were held with the United Community of Sol Plaatje Municipality.
On Monday, in compliance with the demand made in the memorandum that an urgent meeting be convened by the Premier and the Mayor with the community leaders; such was held with the forum to discuss the demands contained in the memorandum. After extensive discussions and deliberations on the intervention and turnaround strategy it was unanimously agreed that a follow up meeting is necessary to allow the Mayor, Mr Patrick Mabilo, to present to the collective a comprehensive response to the concerns raised in the memorandum.
The Premier, Mayor and a delegation from Government and the municipality, true to the commitment made, met with community leaders from the United Sol Plaatje community forum last night to provide feedback on the memorandum and the interventions in improving service delivery as announced by Premier Saul. It should be noted that most of the demands were for the municipality and Provincial Government needed to respond to the R500 million intervention as announced by the Premier.
The community leaders however did not allow for the report to be presented by the Mayor that contained adequate responses to the demands that were made. The Premier however still proceeded to present that working with the municipality we will:
- Improve delivery of clean water to communities
- Bring an end to sewer spillage
- Bring an end to leaking water
- Ensure that all potholes are repaired
Government therefore views the voice note that is doing the rounds as disingenuous because various attempts were made to respond to the community leaders and this was not allowed by the very same people that claim to have the interest of the community at heart. Premier Saul was on a visit in the Namaqua District and viewed this engagement as critically important and cut his visit short to engage with all interested and vested parties and individuals.
Provincial Government wishes to place on record that we note the concerns of the community and vow to see through the commitments as outlined in the R 500 million intervention. The Provincial Government in collaboration with Sol Plaatje Municipality has established an Integrated Implementation Task Team for the immediate rollout of the service delivery intervention. This task team is in the process of finalising the work schedule and upon completion this work schedule will be made public. It will just be fair to allow Government and the municipality to conclude on the consultations and also acknowledge that the work that will be done will not happen overnight.
The Premier, Dr Zamani Saul calls on the community to exercise restraint and take Government into confidence as we have been open and honest in the manner we dealt with the roll out of repairs and unscheduled and emergency situations that occurred.
The Northern Cape Provincial Government wishes to reiterate that the emergency relief assistance has at its core only one aim and that is to improve service delivery and standards and to restore the city for the benefit of its people.
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