After months of holding meetings to discuss issues affecting residents in the Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM), the Randfontein Tax Payers’ Association has decided to take steps to intensify its efforts to hold the municipality accountable.
This was said at yet another meeting held at the Greenhills Stadium on Thursday, 18 October, when residents were disappointed by the absence of any RWCLM representatives.
Residents were also informed in a letter written by the Executive Mayor, Mzi Khumalo that the meetings will no longer be attended by the Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMCs) as was the case at two previous meetings.
“It therefore needs to be pointed out that the affected wards do have Ward Councillors duly elected on 3 August 2016. Ward Councillors are representatives of their respective constituents as well as their immediate needs and have a responsibility to diligently report to their respective constituencies on progress made with service delivery matters in affected localities,” the letter read.
In the same letter, the Mayor went on to say ward councillors who serve as duly elected representatives also act as a key monitoring and feedback mechanism to their constituencies in relation to service delivery and development matters in the various wards.
“Based on the aforesaid, you are hereby advised to [contact the] respective Ward Councillors henceforth,” read the letter.
After the letter was read, one resident angrily complained that the mayor is directly responsible for the residents in the municipality.
Frans le Grange of the Randfontein Tax Payers Association, added, “If they do not want to listen, we have to take action, because we pay their salaries and we keep this town going, but one thing that we do not want to do is to burn our town. This is our town and we want to build, improve and get investments here.”
Some of the issues that remain problematic are electricity, water leaks, sewage, the Robinson and Homelake bridge and the lack of professionalism from the workers of the municipality and the switchboard operators.
One resident attributed most of the problems within the municipality to sheer laziness among the employees.
Another resident, Wonder Modise said: “As residents within this municipality, we are in position to stand up and fight like the constitution stipulates, we are supporting this initiative and by any means necessary we become one and vocal.”
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