Sedibeng TVET College, Heidelberg Campus called a Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) meeting at Heidelberg City Hall on September 14.
The meeting was about the planned construction at the Heidelberg Sedibeng Campus. The college is in Heidelberg Ward 8 and they will do all the projects on the campus grounds.
Heidelberg Ward 9 Clr Gerry Holtzhauzen welcomed everyone and explained why they called the meeting.
Sedibeng principal Dr George Mothapo then took to the stand and welcomed everyone. He said, “We have held the same SMME meetings at our other campuses in Sedibeng (four in total) and the Heidelberg Campus is the best-run campus out of the four.
“There are about 16 projects that we are planning at the college, including improving the buildings, adding on structures and upgrading.
“We want to use local contractors, sub-contractors and labourers as far as possible. With the projects planned, we want to create jobs for the community and support the community as far as possible.”
There was pandemonium as the members that attended said they did not follow the right channels before the meeting was called and voiced their concerns strongly.
Community members stood up with a sense of not being on board for what was planned. There were concerns that there was no public participation in the decision-making and plans for the projects.
They must also make the community aware of the impact of the project on the community and what benefits it will have for Ward 8. The community also needed to be made aware of what jobs would be created and how it would affect Heidelberg and their community.
After the war of words, they decided to appoint a community liaison officer (CLO) to be the go-between Sedibeng College, Ward 8 councillor and the community.
After a few strong words from community members, they postponed the meeting until they could obtain public participation and reached a consensus on how the community and the area will be impacted. Thereafter, a new meeting will be called and the projects and plans discussed with the business owners and how they can benefit in the long run.
They then peacefully adjourned the meeting.
