West Rand District Municipality (WRDM) Executive Mayor Mpho Nawa called on those who burned government property during the service delivery protest to stop their barbaric acts.
Nawa was delivering his State of the District address at the Misty Hills Country Hotel in Muldersdrift.
“It is our responsibility to protect government property. If you want a clinic in your area and you choose to burn a library, where do you think government will get the money from to build another library in two weeks?” Nawa asked angrily.
The statement followed the recent service delivery protests causing millions of rands of damage to property. The protest, allegedly by the community of Mohlakeng near Randfontein, turned violent when they burned down a library and the home of the Randfontein Local Municipality Executive Mayor Sylvia Thebenare.
“I am confident this will be one of the most remarkable years of our democracy, as we all work together to realise the core aspiration of our people, to provide basic services and move Gauteng City Region forward,” Nawa said.
In his speech, which took guidance and inspiration from the Ten Pillars as outlined by Gauteng Premier David Makhura during his State of the Province address, Nawa said, “The ten pillar programme of radical transformation, modernisation and re-industrialisation is a strategic roadmap to move Gauteng City Region forward over the next five to fifteen years.
“This is the vision of the Gauteng government, which also guides our municipalities on how to use this mandate as a catalyst to further accelerate progress towards the achievement of the objectives the people mandated us to pursue.”
The speech themed Together moving towards a Metro in 2016 also was inspired by the Freedom Charter, and Nawa said, “The adoption of the Freedom Charter created a powerful vision that led to the establishment of a non-racial, united and a democratic state … and our people need to have houses, security and comfort”. He said the WRDM plays a pivotal co-ordination role in addressing issues regarding housing provision, human settlement and housing related matters.
“As we are marching towards the Metropolitan type of government the district is in a progress of negotiation to get accreditation for certain human settlement functions. Together with the Gauteng provincial government, we are working closely to address the housing backlogs, and we are happy to announce that more than 160 000 housing units will be built in our district.”
Gauteng West District Education under the tutelage of Director Dr Peter Skosana received a round of applause for making the district proud.
“The West Rand was the best performing district in the country in the 2014 matric exams. This achievement would not have been possible without the support of the district management team, principals, parents and the broader civil society.”
He said all municipalities on the West Rand must move towards clean audits and no disclaimers.
WRDM has obtained a grant funding from the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport for the construction of non-motorised transport infrastructure within the jurisdiction area of Westonaria Local Municipality. The aim is to promote a safer and seamless movement of pedestrians and cyclists. The total project is estimated to cost R18 million.
WRDM is to be appointed as the Implementing Agent for the Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant programme by the Department of Water and Sanitation. The programme is to ensure that all people on the West Rand receive potable water.
To this end a total allocation of R141 million has been set aside between financial years 2015/ 2016 and 2017/ 2018 for the programme to ensure that basic levels of service will be delivered.
Nawa said moving towards a Metro in 2016 requires a service approach with the regionalisation of the human resources, information, communication and technology, finance, legal, facilities and internal audit.
