Bronkhorstpruit – The community leaders of townships around Bronkhorstpruit in Tshwane, who staged service delivery protests, say they will refrain from burning tyres and will rather work with government to ensure that their demands are met.
Community leaders said this when the newly-appointed Gauteng Human Settlements MEC Jacob Mamabolo met with them at the Bronkhorstpruit council chambers on Wednesday morning.
After the meeting, which took place behind closed doors, MEC Mamabolo briefed the media in a joint press conference with community leaders, which he said was successful and fruitful.
Stemer Monageng, a representative for community leaders in the area, said residents had undertaken to no longer unleash violent protests but to engage communities.
“We have taken a resolution that we will no longer take to the streets anymore.
“We have resolved that we will no longer burn tyres; we will no longer burn buildings and we will no longer burn clinics.
“We are happy with the leadership [proposals] and we are confident we will resolve our problems amicably,” he said.
After the meeting, which lasted just under two hours, MEC Mamabolo said he had listened to all the concerns raised by the community leaders.
“We have made a commitment that we will develop an action plan. Community leaders understand that to develop an action plan, we need to consult with the three spheres of government to see how the challenges can be addressed,” he said.
Leading up to voter registration in February, townships around the area – which includes Zithombeni, Ekangala and Rethabiseng, took to the streets to protest over the provision of basic services.
This included provision of water, electricity and the slow pace of low-cost housing. Residents also demanded the re-instatement of a ward councillor, who had been on suspension for over two years.
At the time, the SA Communist Party – of which MEC Mamabolo is a member - and the then ANC provincial secretary and now Premier David Makhura, paid a visit to the area and asked residents not to disrupt voter registration and to allow the elections to continue.
The then Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa also visited the area in a bid to quell tensions ahead of the May 7 polls.
After a series of meetings, community leaders and residents eventually agreed to abandon protests and to refrain from vandalising property to allow pre-election processes to go ahead.
At the time, government promised that a follow-up meeting would be held with community leaders after the elections.
MEC Mamabolo told journalists that he was glad that the community leaders had agreed to uphold their promise.
“We have also agreed with community leaders that once consultations have taken place with the three spheres of government, we will come back to present them with a draft action plan for them to make comments on it against the issues they are raising and then we will work on the timelines of what the way forward will be,” he said. – SAnews.gov.za
