Unhappy Mogale City residents petition to be part of Jozi

Tired of being neglected by Mogale City municipality, a group of residents and property owners in the Muldersdrift/Nooitgedacht area on the West Rand are demanding their area be incorporated into the City of Joburg.

The residents, who have initiated a petition, said they lived in the area, or owned estates, smallholdings and farm portions. The area includes Lanseria Airport.

They have written an open letter to Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba, telling him they commissioned an informal process to request the incorporation into the Joburg metro.

The petition starts off with: “Joburg – please incorporate us as we are being wiped out by silent assassins… ”

The residents said although Muldersdrift was located in Mogale City, it was adjoining Joburg, as depicted on maps.

“For two decades now, we have witnessed and experienced the neglect and disinterest in this area at local government level, the damage to the environment that may be irreversible and the focus of the Mogale City local municipality in what can generally be described as the area south of the Protea Ridge,” they wrote.

“Indeed, at some point in time, attempts were made to establish a metropolitan municipality in the Krugersdorp, Randfontein, Carletonville, Merafong areas – this fact being compelling evidence that the political and economic interest at local government, executive and political persuasions have no commonality with our well-being or interests.

“Our interest is apolitical and focused on survival and stability at local government level.”

The residents said they hoped that their open letter to Mashaba would trigger a demarcation rearrangement “under your leadership for the planned 2021 local elections”.

But they were aware of the no-confidence debate he had to contend with tomorrow.

“As time is of the essence, therefore, the open letter serves as background information.”

In the letter to Mashaba, the property owners said as soon as they had his initial reaction to their request, they would then assist in compiling a comprehensive report.

The report would contain an executive summary, analyses and outcomes, tourism, logistics and other matters, together with legal and consulting engineering reports. They planned to canvass the whole area for support.

“This letter reflects the personal views and opinions of interested and affected parties in the area ,” the residents said.

Mayoral communications director Luyanda Mfeka said that the matter hadn’t been formally brought to the mayor’s attention.

“In any event, such would not be the purview of the city but that of the demarcations board,” Mfeka said. “We would encourage residents of Mogale City to continue to engage with their local government so as to address service delivery needs.”

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