Note to Broadcasters: Please find a linked soundbite in English by Cllr Revelation Mange.
The DA in the Mahikeng Local Municipality is concerned that the abandoned apartments in Unit 3 Mmabatho have been illegally occupied and become a playground for criminal activity.
The Kings Way Christian School next to the apartment blocks has been the target of repeated theft, burglaries, and vandalism ever since the vacant apartments have been hijacked.
Illegal dumping of refuse has turned the area around Unit 3 and the school into an unhealthy dumping site attracting vermin. This poses a health hazard to residents living nearby and the learners of the school.
The DA will write to the Mahikeng Executive Mayor, Cllr Tshepiso Mphehlo, and the Municipal Manager, Adv Dineo Mongwaketsi, requesting them, in collaboration with the Provincial Department of Human Settlements and the SAPS to evict illegal occupants and secure.
Our Provincial Spokesperson on Human Settlements, Freddy Sonakile, will also write to the North West MEC for Human Settlements, Nono Maloyi, requesting an update on the delay of finalising the transfer of these apartments to beneficiaries.
It is unacceptable that for a province with a housing backlog of 2 400 social housing units, that the Unit 3 apartments have been abandoned and been allowed to become a den of criminality when so many beneficiaries could have been homed in decent housing.
Residents have an opportunity to change their lives for the better by registering to vote DA in next year’s election so that we can begin the process of transferring homes and title deeds to beneficiaries in North West just like we do in the Western Cape where we govern.