Note to Editors: Please find the attached soundbite in English and Afrikaans by Cllr Soret Viljoen, DA Councillor in Tswaing Local Municipality.
Last week Thursday, security guards for Tswaing Local Municipality acted on a letter from the suspended Municipal Manager, Isaac Moruti, who instructed them to protect the municipality and assaulted a member of the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU).
The Samwu member was attacked by at least ten security guards and sustained serious injuries to his head after being bashed with a brick. He was transported to Delareyville CHC for emergency treatment and was later admitted to the hospital for observation.
Community members in the surrounding area reported hearing gunshots during the ordeal. Shots were allegedly fired in the air on municipal grounds.
This not only put the lives of residents in danger but is against Article 120 (7) of the Firearms Control Act of 2000 which states that it is an offence to discharge a firearm in a built-in area or any public place, without good reason to do so.
The security company acted reprehensibly and violently, allowing themselves to be involved in the ongoing infighting of the ANC.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will lay a complaint with the local SAPS requesting them to investigate the incident and the action of the security guards for violating the firearms act and their violent behaviour. The SAPS must ensure that public safety is prioritized for purposes of the law, order and public safety.
The ongoing ANC political factionalism has already collapsed all forms of service delivery when the suspended Municipal Manager obtained a court order to freeze the municipality’s account.
This account is used to buy diesel and pay for maintenance to adhere to the Constitutional obligations Tswaing has to comply with, ensuring residents have access to basic services they pay for like water, sanitation and electricity.
The situation in Tswaing is so dire that community members, local businesses and AfriForum are buying diesel to pump water, remove refuse and pay for urgent maintenance of municipal infrastructure.
Raw sewage is overflowing across the streets of Delareyville, Sannieshof and Ottosdal as sanitation contractors withdrew their services due to non-payment.
The financial mismanagement of the Tswaing Local Municipality caused the evocation of six Constitutional interventions resulting in further deterioration of the management and failure to deliver services they are obliged to deliver.
The Tswaing accounting officers must be held accountable for the systemic mismanagement that has led to the collapse of the municipality.
There should also be an investigation on how the suspension of a Municipal Manager can keep the communities of Tswaing hostage by not delivering the services the municipality is obliged to deliver.
The North West Provincial Government is fully aware of the imminent complete collapse of governance in Tswaing, which has been on the decline since 2007 due to appointing politically connected people in key positions not fit for purpose, allowing systemic fraud and corruption to be entrenched within the administration and not honouring the regulated legislation in the governance of Tswaing.
The ANC is not interested in governing, they have failed to bring any actual action that might set the municipality towards recovering.
The only way to bring real change to Tswaing Local Municipality is for people to vote out the failing ANC government and put in a DA-led government. The DA is the only party with a proven track record. The top five best performing municipalities in South Africa are governed by the DA.