Residents are furious saying that Executive Mayor Daniel Thupane is out of touch and dismissive.
On May 22, the mayor and his newly elected Members of the Mayoral Committee opened the door to citizens by inviting them to the Integrated Development Plan meeting held in Town Hall.
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The purpose of the meeting was for residents and councillors to highlight some of the issues they face in their wards that the municipality should resolve. It later turned into chaos as what was supposed to be a peaceful public dialogue escalated to a heated verbal altercation between residents and councillors against the mayor and his committee.
Residents were demanding answers about the lack of service delivery and unresolved issues across Mogale City. Crime, service delivery and land disputes were also on the agenda.
According to Rietfontein Village resident, Thabo Morake, the mayor was being dismissive and did not care to listen to what residents had to say.
We have concerns as residents and have been without water for over a month now. This was even after we were promised that services would be restored.
“Also, whenever a councillor or community member raised an issue, we were disrespected. Some did not even bother to give us a chance and explain issues,” he said.
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Noordheuwel resident Thabang Matshana shared similar sentiments. He believes the mayor did not take the time to listen to much of what the residents had to say.
He spent more time arguing and gaslighting us. At no point did he seem to care about our concerns,” Thabang said.
Clr Amy Steyn also expressed how she was denied to raise her voice and was labelled as being over-reactive and aggressive.
“I fear that saying anything is saying too much, and yet, saying nothing is never enough. How can we speak up without being labelled because it was only two female councillors that were denied to speak, although we were the only two councillors who wanted to speak?” Amy asked.
Despite the chaos, the mayor released a statement saying the meeting ran smoothly and that residents showed great enthusiasm throughout.
