DA objects to Tswaing IDP, Budget and tariff increase approval

Issued by Cllr Soret Viljoen – DA Caucus Leader, Tswaing Local Municipality
31 May 2023 in Press Statements

Note to Broadcasters: Please find linked soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Cllr Soret Viljoen.

The DA in the Tswaing Local Municipality objected to the ANC-led administration’s approval of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP), Budget and tariffs increases for 2023/2024 financial year during a Council Meeting yesterday.

The Speaker, Cllr Sam Letlakane, the Executive Mayor, Cllr Norah Mahlangu, and ANC Councillors tried every known ANC trick in the book to hide the truth about the exclusion of rate-and taxpayers, as well as the business community, from the IDP public participation process. The ANC expects the community to pay for non-existent services.

Even some Councillors from opposition parties were deliberately excluded from the public participation process. The IDP public participation process is a basic requirement for local government to obtain the input from residents on the service delivery needs of the community and for the municipality to allocate funding in an equitable and transparent manner to service these needs.

Photos of public involvement in the IDP process in Tswaing wards were posted on Facebook but residents in these affected wards were not notified in advance. The IDP public participation process was nothing but a carefully planned ANC-only meeting. This has caused anger and resentment amongst residents who continue to endure the collapse of service delivery.

The ANC-governed Tswaing Council demonstrated once more that it is the same as prior ANC-led administrations – only interested in serving their own selfish interest.

Ratepayers, taxpayers, and the business community have not been included in the IDP public participation process for years but are expected to pay their municipal bills even as service delivery is non-existent.

Despite many Section 139(b), (c), and (5) interventions, the Tswaing Local Municipality is bankrupt. Residents suffer water and electricity outages for weeks on end and every day raw sewage streams down the streets polluting the Hartsriver and Barberspan.

Streetlights are broken, tarred roads have decayed to the extent of gravel roads, parksand walkways are not maintained, and illegal dumping sites flourish as the municipality cannot remove refuse or enforce municipal by-laws.

Municipal infrastructure, like electrical substations, are not locked and secured, and daily vandalism results in the loss of electricity for homes and businesses. Ottosdal and Sannieshof households cannot flush their toilets due to overflowing septic tanks.

A sewer spill in Delareyville has affected Laerskool Delareyville, Supaquick, Ford, SASSA, Delareyville Panelbeaters, NWK, and Noordwes Trekker Onderdele for the past five years since the Protea sewer pump station has been out of commission.

Raw sewage flows into the Henk Joubert Nature Reserve saltpan polluting the environment and compromising the health of wildlife.

The DA will write to Speaker Letlakane, Mayor Mahlangu, and MM Gomolemo Moipolai, demanding that they revise the IDP, Budget, and tariffs, and also include all the relevant parties and the community when making these decisions in order to put the needs of the people first.