LIMPOPO – Greater Giyani Mayor Thandi Zitha has called for urgent action against individuals and businesses found to be violating municipal bylaws in the central business district (CBD).

Her call follows a recent clean-up campaign that exposed widespread non-compliance, including illegal structures, unauthorised water connections, and businesses operating without proper documentation.

As part of the municipality’s ongoing “Keep Giyani Clean” campaign, Zitha toured several parts of the town and was alarmed by what she found.

“We encountered serious issues, illegal water connections made by some businesses, structures built on road reserves, and shops operating without complying with municipal regulations,” she said.

In one incident, the mayor confronted a foreign national who had erected a business structure directly on a road. The individual claimed the structure was legal and presented documents allegedly from the municipality approving the construction.

“This raises serious concerns. How was such a structure approved when it’s built on a road reserve and even encroaches onto the road?” Zitha questioned. “This needs to be verified, and appropriate action must be taken. We cannot allow situations like this to go unchallenged.” Zitha emphasised that enforcement must go beyond verbal warnings.

“Talking alone won’t help. Serious action needs to be taken against those found to be violating our bylaws,” she told the municipal manager and his directors after the campaign. “If we don’t act, we’ll return to the same areas tomorrow and find nothing has changed, or worse.”

She noted that in some areas, the municipality is unable to collect water revenue because illegal connections have bypassed the billing system. “They make their own connections and use water freely, without concern about increasing bills because they simply don’t pay. We will disconnect these illegal lines, but more importantly, we must introduce punitive measures to prevent future abuse,” she said.

The mayor also expressed concern over the growing number of illegal structures in the CBD, particularly along the stretch from Khensani Car Wash.

“When you look down that area, you see rows of makeshift shops, many of which are not legally built. We will consult the Director of Planning to verify if any of them were approved. If they don’t have building permits, we have every right to demolish them,” Zitha stated. She acknowledged that while these structures may create job opportunities for some people, how they are constructed poses public health and safety risks. “We can’t have a clean town if we still have water flowing through the streets, creating chaos and potential health hazards,” she said.

The mayor continued, saying that a follow-up visit to the affected areas will be scheduled next week to assess progress and ensure that enforcement actions are being implemented. “Our town is small, keeping it clean shouldn’t be this difficult. But if we don’t follow up on our work, everything we’ve done today will be in vain,” she said.

She added that illegal water users will have their services cut off until they come forward and rectify their connections. Even more concerning, she said, was the discovery that a shop previously shut down for health violations had resumed operations without addressing the issues. “We need to investigate how that shop was allowed to reopen.

Many problems that led to its closure still haven’t been fixed.

They clearly don’t care about the health of our people,” continued the mayor, adding that the municipality needs to exercise its authority.

“Where we have authority, we must use it to ensure compliance. If we are unable to enforce the law ourselves, we will not hesitate to escalate the matter to the Public Protector,” she said firmly.