Community told to blame councillor

At the latest meeting at Thabo Mbeki Village on 14 April he told residents they would have to wait until 2017 for RDP houses in the proposed Lion Park Development and they cannot expect to receive electricity until formal township layouts have been approved. No indication was given when formalisation will be completed.

This information was not well received by the residents.
Mafokwane is rumoured to have refused to sign off on service delivery projects in Ward 96.

This enticed residents to make Ward 96 ungovernable. One plan of action is blockading Malibongwe Drive, Witkoppen Road and the N14 Highway on 6 May.

However, by law, no councillor has the power to block any approved projects in the City, which would include the Lion Park Development.

“I am against the notion of mobilising residents to make the ward 96 ungovernable. That method will not achieve anything instead we may sit with a situation where lives are lost and property destructed. I don’t want Ficksburg and Marikana on my door step,” Mafokwane said.

He added, “I have committed to work with Thabo Mbeki Village.”
One resident Godwill Adams said, “The purpose of the meeting again was null and void as he told us partly the same story he had given us in the past sit-in.”

Their living conditions were the reason they planned on making the ward ungovernable, in an attempt to have their voices heard.

Adams also said political leadership had failed them, but that Mafokwane could still be their saviour. He said Mafokwane needed to work with residents and the media to ensure their plight gained enough coverage to force action.