Residents of the Ward 6 area in Khutsong are upset because a community park donated by AngloGold Ashanti is
not being maintained.
‘As Merafong Local Municipality, we commit ourselves to honour and treasure this community park. Today, we
commit to maintaining this park though our facility management department, to be in this state forever
throughout.
‘We also commit to deploying a full-time facility caretaker for the day-to-day running and management. We also
commit to deploying full-time security services in the park to limit vandalisation in this facility.’
These were the words of the executive mayor of the Merafong City Local Municipality, Ms Maphefo Mogale-Letsie,
during the official launch and handover of the Khutsong Community Park on 14 June 2013. The speech can
still be found on the internet.
The park was built with R1.8 million donated by the mining house, Anglo-Gold Ashanti (AGA).
This week, however, it was obvious that the mayor’s commitments did not last long. One of the residents who was
upset by the issue, Mr Moeketsi Mogagale, showed the Herald the state of the park.
‘How can they expect us to let our children play here?’ he lamented while pointing to one of the see-saws, which
had been tied to its base with a piece of wire. In the meantime, the tar under the see-saws and other playground
equipment was also busy crumbling.
In addition to the grass that is kneehigh in places, one of the gates was loose and the community had removed
the other. As far as could be determined, it was being stored at a nearby church so that it would not be stolen.
To make matters worse, residents complained that the facility’s only public toilets have never worked since the
opening and the high mast light was also out of order. At the time of the Herald’s visit, there was no security
guard or caretaker in sight but there were people exercising. Although the equipment for adults was still working,
the paintwork was chipped. According to Moeketsi, the community wants the municipality to rather appoint them as
caretakers of the park, with AGA giving more money to restore it.
On Tuesday, the Herald asked the municipality why it was not maintaining the park. ‘When AGA handed over
the park to MCLM the ablution facility had not yet been connected to the main sewerage line. The infrastructure section was advised about the matter and was supposed to connect the pipes to get the toilets working.
‘The playground equipment will be fixed as soon as the funds are available. Members of the community broke the gate and equipment and the municipality has fixed them twice already.

‘In the light of the continued vandalism, the municipality cannot be expected to keep on fixing the equipment if
the community does not ensure the safety of such,’ a municipal spokesperson replied.