Community obtject to merger
Maruleng municipality community members voice their anger to be merged to Ba-Phalaborwa and Greater Tzaneen Municipality during the Municipal demarcation board public participating meeting that was held in The Willows Stadium on Tuesday.
People who formed part of the meeting were members of the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB), local councillors of the municipality and its officials, ward committee members and members of the public.
The purpose of the meeting was to allow members of the public to air their views on the issue of dissolving Maruleng and splitting it between Ba-Phalaborwa and Greater Tzaneen Municipality.
Chairperson of the Jane Thupana said the MDB closed the redetermination of municipal boundaries on its own initiative in 2013.
‘However the minister used his powers in terms of section 22(1) and (2) and requested the MDB to determine certain municipalities before the next local elections. After this meeting we will consider all inputs against the criteria provided for in section 24 and 25 of MDA and take a decision to re-determine the boundaries or not,’ said Thupana.
Thupana said that should the MDB decide to re-determine the municipal boundaries a notice will be publishe in the provincial gazette and a period of 30 days will be allowed for the public’s objections.
The MDB must consider whether the disestablishment of Maruleng Municipality with the view to optimising the financial viability of these municipalities in the Mopani District Municipality. When the public were given time to air their views almost everyone who was given time to speak said they were against the dissolving of Maruleng.
Popo Mohlabe a concerned resident said that the municipality must not be merged to either the proposed municipality as they failed to render services and to take care of their financials.
‘How can you send us to failed municipalities while we have our own municipality which has show growth and improvement throughout the years? We even won best local municipality in 2010,’ said Mahlabe.
Naphtali Mogale said that the government must address the cause of the disease not the symptoms of it.
‘To make money to sustain the viability of our municipality the government must build us park like other places. We need Sekororo Park as other have Flora Park and through these parks the municipality will charge rates which will support our financial viability,’ said Mogale.
Other speakers who were against the dissolving said that the government is used to making fun of people of Maruleng as they were once part of Bohlabelo municipality and now the same government want to sell them to two underperforming municipalities.
Mean while people from Ba-Phalaborwa and Greater Tzaneen Municipality welcomed the decision of splitting Maruleng amongst them.
Lucky Mohlala from Ba-Phalaborwa Municipality said that the municipality as looked at the advantages and disadvantages of allowing the merge to continue.
‘After checking all facts we support the proposed merger because it doesn’t bring problems as they have farms and other resources that they will bringing alone if they join us,’ said Mohlala.
The MDB is an independent authority responsible for the determination of municipal boundaries. The Board status as an independent authority is also protected by section 3 of the Local Government Municipal Demarcation Act 1998 and various judgements by the Constitutional Court. In addition to the determinations of municipal boundaries, the Board is also mandated by legislation to declare the district management areas, to delimit wards for local elections; and to assess the capacity of municipalities to perform their functions well.
