Note to Broadcasters: Please find linked soundbites in English and Afrikaans by Cllr Hans-Jurie Moolman.
The DA, yesterday applied under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) to the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) to obtain all applicable records considered and that led to the board’s recent resolution to defer the decision on the split of the JB Marks Local Municipality along the boundaries of the former Ventersdorp and Tlokwe municipalities. See application here. The reason for this decision is not clear as the board was able and ready to take decisions in respect of many other municipalities that are part of the same process.
The DA is the First Applicant and registered stakeholder in initial submissions to the MBD to consider the split of JB Marks into the former Potchefstroom/Tlokwe and Ventersdorp local municipalities.
In a circular received yesterday, the MDB indicated that further investigations and public engagements are necessary before the board can decide on the issue.
We have, to date, participated fully with the MDB’s processes and during all our engagements and a public hearing, it became clear that residents and stakeholders want to see an end to the disastrous ANC gerrymandering project in JB Marks, and we believe that the MBD has sufficient information at its disposal to come to a decision to proceed with the split.
During the Section 26 process before the 2016 local government elections, the MDB received overwhelming opposition to the amalgamation of the then-Tlokwe and Ventersdorp municipalities because it would erode the capacity of the municipality to deliver quality basic services to residents. Despite advice and a proposed alternative option to intervene and provide management support from a district level to Ventersdorp to restore its sustainability and improve service delivery to residents, the total opposite happened. Management is currently centralised and remote controlled from Potchefstroom which has a negative impact on service delivery to the Ventersdorp community.
The ANC largely advocated that the amalgamation of Potchefstroom and Ventersdorp would improve governance and service delivery, but this was nothing but a ploy to prevent the DA from forming a majority government in Tlokwe in 2016. Almost 10 years later and both JB Marks towns are on a fast-track towards complete collapse due to failed ANC governance and rampant corruption.
Our PAIA application to access all records is in the public interest. It is crucial that we conduct thorough oversight over this demarcation process to avoid yet another disastrous decision by the MDB. It is critical that during this process, participants in any public participation process should be fully informed about the considerations and decisions that have a major impact on governance and the quality of service delivery.