Pretoria - The current wave of the so-called service delivery protests are reversing government’s success record for service delivery, says Gauteng MEC for Cooperative Governance and Human Settlements, Ntombi Mekgwe.
Mekgwe also issued a stern warning to protestors to stop torching public facilities during protest actions, as the replacement value of such facilities was escalating and making it difficult for government to rebuild immediately.
“While we understand the public’s right to peaceful protests, the torching of public buildings is a crime. It is illegal, unacceptable and has to stop immediately.
“If it continues, we will reach a stage where all facilities in our societies are ruined to the detriment of us as a people. These violent protest actions have also reversed key successes achieved over the years and add further financial strain to the provincial coffers,” she said.
Mekgwe’s statement comes in the wake of on-going provincial assessments, which estimate damage to public property to be around R65 million. The amount is set to rise due to outstanding reports and on-going trends.
Mekgwe further said it was becoming very clear that the consequences of such violent service delivery protest action would have long-term negative effects on the affected communities.
This is mainly because funds needed to rebuild torched public buildings were not budgeted for and could result in most communities waiting for years to regain services.
In Bekkersdal, the costs of damaged properties are estimated at R20 million. This includes the destruction of the community hall, gymnasium, council offices, business hub, clinic, local business training centre, farmer support centre and the multipurpose centre (MPCC).
Some of these buildings (MPCC, local business centre, and farmer support centre and information hub) had been torched before and had just been restored last year at a cost of R4.5 million.
Not long after the restorations, they were again destroyed for the second time during the recent protests, with the MPCC being torched for the third time.
The MPCC housed various government departments such as Home Affairs, Health and South African Social Security Agency (SASSA), and the local Emergency Services. The South African National Civics Organisation (SANCO) also had an office there.
Now that the centre is destroyed, the community is now forced to travel to town in Randfontein to get the services which they were getting on their doorstep.
The local Emergency Service has also been relocated, something which could affect the response time for emergencies in the township, where shack fires and day-to-day emergencies are always experienced.
Young people who were receiving training on courses such as brick laying, welding, computer and business skills have been left out following the destruction of the Local Business Centre.
“These strategic projects, contrary to the view of some commentators, assisted in empowering the community, created jobs and income for local citizens and were also used to the benefit of the community at large.
“This was part of the Bekkersdal Urban Renewal Programme intended to provide programmes to uplift the social and economic circumstance of the area,” said MEC Mekgwe. - SAnews.gov.za
