Question marks pop up over proposed split of J.B. Marks Municipality
Residents of J.B. Marks have for numerous years since the amalgamation of Tlokwe and Ventersdorp municipalities bemoaned, the worsening of service delivery.
The decision regarding the proposed split of J.B. Marks Local Municipality is still up in their air, a month after the Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) had resolved to defer the decision to allow for stakeholder and community engagement and further research.
“The MDB intends to subject those proposals that have been deferred to further research, public consultations and stakeholder engagements before a decision is taken on whether to re-determine municipal boundaries or not,” the MDB stated in a press release in January.
The DA consequently submitted an application under the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) in order to obtain all applicable records considered that led to the board’s deferral decision.
The DA is also the first applicant in registered stakeholder in initial submissions to the MBD to consider the split of J.B. Marks into the former Potchefstroom/Tlokwe and Ventersdorp local municipalities.
Hans-Jurie Moolman, DA councillor in the J.B. Marks municipality, wrote a letter to the MDB this month, stating that records, as were listed in their previous request, were omitted from the records provided.
All or any reports or outcomes considered by the Municipal Demarcation Board since the merger of the former Tlokwe and Ventersdorp Local Municipalities into the NW 405 (JB Marks) Local Municipality to measure the achievement of the objectives as provided for in section 24 of the Municipal Demarcation Act, Act 27 of 1998 and by considering the mandatory factors in section 25 of the Demarcation Act.
Moolman states that various submissions were not recorded or presented during an MBD meeting held with ward councillors and the general public on 28 September 2023. According to Moolman these records were also omitted during a presentation to the MDB on 13 December 2023.
“We find it strange that there is no system in place whereby the MDB is able to continuously monitor the consequences of its decisions against the backdrop of the requirements of its statutory mandate. This concern is aggravated by the fact that the outcomes of such monitoring was not part of the considerations by the MDB on 13 December 2023 and did not precede the decision pertaining to DEM 8001 and was communicated in MDB circular 1 of 2024,” states Moolman in the letter.
In a Section 29 report on the J.B Marks proposed redetermination, the MBD states that there were mixed views on the redetermination during the meeting on 28 September 2023 held in Potchefstroom. Members of the public were given an opportunity to raise their views on the proposed redetermination and could provide written submission to elucidate their views.
In the section 29 report, the MDB states that these views that supported the demerger looked at the current Maladministration, poor systems integration and service delivery challenges as factors. Those against the demerger states the lack of financial viability and administrative capacity of the municipality, the need to share and redistribute financial and administrative resources as well as District Development Model Intervention.
Moolman is also of the opinion that the MDB should use the Municipal Demarcation Act of 1998 as the key reference point to whether municipal boundaries should be redetermined.
According to the Municipal Demarcation Act 27 of 1998, the board’s decision regarding the demerger should look at Topographical, environmental, or physical characteristics, criteria that relate to the interdependence of people, communities and economies, the need for redistribution and integration on financial and administrative grounds as well as the financial viability of municipalities to perform their functions.
Residents of J.B. Marks have for numerous years since the amalgamation of Tlokwe and Ventersdorp municipalities bemoaned, the worsening of service delivery. The MDB’s chairperson, Thabo Manyoni, had stated in a January circular that “there is no sufficient information available to allow for a final and sustainable decision to be taken; 2) It requires further research, public consultation, and / or stakeholder engagements.” Conversely, the MDB also stated in a report to Moolman that the amalgamation had in fact not necessarily result in improved service delivery.
“In fact, service delivery has worsened, and the municipality is currently in financial distress grappling with a S139 intervention and there has been a rise in service delivery protests.”
