Dennis has the community’s interest at heart
This position brings a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders.
Dennis Refentse Mangope, 45, is a local community activist and leader. He is currently the Community and Media Liaison to the Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. The Herald recently met up with Dennis, who gave us a tour through his past and shared his plans for the future.
Dennis was born in Mohlakeng Township and started his primary education at Tswelelo Primary School. He completed his matric at Phahama Senior Secondary School in 1992. He became attracted to community struggles at the age of 12, which was in 1985. This was the time when serious fights between Mohlakeng and Hostel residents ensued.
“For the first time, at this early age, I witnessed the brutal killing of a suspected hostel dweller, and the township was on fire. Many families lost their loved ones during that painful era,” said Dennis.
In 1997, Dennis was recalled and re-deployed in the Gauteng Provincial Government’s Ministerial Office, as the Admin Clerk to the MEC for Agriculture and Conservation. He worked for the MEC until the ANC redeployed him again as a Ward 16 councillor for the Randfontein Council in 2000. From 2003 to 2007 he was the West Rand Regional Chairperson of the ANC Youth League, and a member of the ANC’s Regional Working Committee. In 2006, he was deployed to the West Rand District Municipality as the ANC Chief Whip and MMC for Corporate Services.
“I served in these offices until the local government elections in 2011. I returned to the West Rand District Municipality as the Spokesperson for the Executive Mayor in 2013 and served until the 2016 local government elections. I was then appointed the ANC spokesperson for the West Rand Region,” said Dennis.
He is currently the Community and Media Liaison Officer for the Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, the Honourable Lentheng Mekgwe. This position puts a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. Key amongst them is the interface between the Gauteng Executive Council and the Office of the Premier and coordinating community programmes between various stakeholders and within the Gauteng Legislature. Central to these is the intervention in the challenges of service delivery at both Municipal and Gauteng Provincial Government level.
“We have a constitutional mandate as the Legislature to hold Government and Municipalities accountable to what they promised to deliver. So our Petitions and Public Participation Offices are open to the community and other stakeholders, and we are always there to unblock the drains of service delivery,” said Dennis.
Dennis is planning to complete his degree in Communications and Public Relations Management.
“Being a community mouthpiece for development and service delivery is a big dream and goal for me,” said Dennis.
He wishes to see the community being enlightened about their rights and responsibilities as he believes this will eliminate ignorance and rampant corruption.
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