Moretele - The North West Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs has dispatched a special task team to Dipetlwane in the Moretele Local Municipality to assess the situation and address residents' concerns over service delivery.
Consisting of community representatives and officials from the local municipality and department, the task team is expected to begin work on Wednesday.
The establishment of the task team follows last week's march by residents.
The community handed over a memorandum to the department, outlining grievances such as the inadequate provision of water, the bad condition of municipal roads and a lack of sports facilities and a local clinic.
In the memorandum, the community also said they had been trying to engage with the local municipality about the lack of basic services since 2002, but nothing had come of it.
Abram Motsetsi, a resident of the township, said he was relieved that government was responding to their grievances.
He said the community currently relied on one borehole for water because the other six boreholes were dysfunctional. This meant that the 500 households in the village relied on only one borehole which dried up repeatedly.
"Besides walking a long distance to fetch water, we still have to pay R2 for a 20 litre tank if the borehole dries up," he said.
Local Government and Traditional Affairs MEC Gordon Kegakilwe said the task team would look at each grievance raised in the memorandum and efforts would be made to reach a common understanding about how to resolve them.
He called on residents and community leaders to cooperate with the relevant structures in ensuring that services were rendered to communities.
"Citizens should take responsibility and work hand in hand with ward committees and other relevant structures to ensure these structures work towards improving their lives," he said.
He further requested that the community pay for basic services to ensure continued provision of municipal services.
The task team is expected to submit a report to the department by Friday. The department said once the investigations were completed a turnaround strategy would be developed.
