The mayoral spokesperson, Victor Boqo, says the media statement issued by DA councillor Hans-Jurie Moolman is nothing but cheap politics, political opportunists playing to the gallery.
‘This statement is not surprising as the DA does not care about our people. The statement is misleading and must be condemned.’
‘Firstly, Moolman has recently failed to attend council meetings. It is unfortunate that the DA is taking out their frustrations about losing power in big metros on JB Marks. We have nothing to do with the recent power struggles in the DA,’ he said.
He added that ‘We have it on good authority that the DA is planning a motion of no confidence in the executive mayor and the speaker.’
‘There are no divisions within the ANC caucus and there is political will and stability within JB Marks. The majority of JB Marks voters in 2016 trusted the ANC and mandated it to lead in government to fight poverty, inequality and unemployment.’
Boqo says that to date, the office of the executive mayor has not received any letter from Moolman. ‘Moolman must put debates through council, but how will he do that when he is absent? This action shows that this party doesn’t care about the plight of our people, but rather about power to run JB Marks through the back door.’
‘JB Marks under the leadership of its executive mayor, Kgotso Khumalo, adopted a council resolution on 7 May to implement a debt collection and credit control policy for the Ventersdorp area. The current collection rate of the municipality is at 85%, which is below the acceptable norm of 95%,’ he added.
The municipality has to address non-payment of basic services
Boqo argued that the former Ventersdorp local municipality was facing serious development backlogs and poverty compared to the former Tlokwe local municipality, putting more financial pressure on the municipality.’
‘The expenditure required to address these challenges will inevitably always exceed available funding. Difficult choices have to be made on tariff increases and there should be a balance between expenditures and realistically anticipated revenues.’
‘Spending should be channelled to basic service delivery and revenue generating assets.’
‘The municipality has to address non-payment of basic services by residents of Ventersdorp. We should do assessments on ward allocations and look into alternative proposals. We have embarked on a massive programme for the payment of accounts and implementation of the 95/5 collection rate in Ventersdorp,’ he said.
He says the municipality also has to address the municipal accounts of officials and councillors that are in arrears. ‘We should develop a financial recovery plan, implement cost-cutting measures, fill critical positions and do research on the economic situation in Ventersdorp.’
‘But now the DA is crying foul and saying the mayor must resign?’
‘When they were in charge, we took serious decisions to uplift the lives of our people and accelerate service delivery, in particular in Ventersdorp, to generate income and to make it financially viable. The same DA and the Freedom Front Plus have distanced themselves and did not want to be part of the council resolution and interventions in Ventersdorp. So who is fooling who here?’
Projects in Ventersdorp
Boqo says their municipal infrastructure grant (MIG) was well spent and the National Treasury allocated an extra R27 million. ‘We spent all the money and changed the lives of the people of Ventersdorp. We completed the following projects, among others:
•Bulk water supply and 300 VIP toilets in Boikhutsong
•Stormwater drainage next to JB Marks in Tshing Ext. 2
•240 VIP toilets at Welgevonden
•340 VIP toilets at Goedgevonden
•100 VIP toilets at Ga-Mogopa
•Boikhutsong, Phase 2
•Rysmierbult bulk water supply
•Appeldraai road, Phase 2
•Toevlug internal road development, Phase 1
We are planning roads, a community hall, a state of the art library and many more service delivery developments for the community of Ventersdorp,’ he highlighted.
Housing development along the N14
Boqo says much progress has been made in terms of housing. ‘The farms Elandskuil 205 Remainder, portion 3 and Elandskuil 206 Remainder have been registered to help us eradicate the housing backlog in Ventersdorp and to encourage economic development in the area.’
‘The feasibility study has been completed and township establishment is currently in process. This is a multi-year development and its implementation will be in phases. This development affects wards 30, 32 and 34,’ he said.
‘Some of the other developments include a township development in Tshing Ext. 8 for construction of 119 houses. There is another housing development in Ext. 9 where the land surveying and pegging of the area are now in progress. In Tshing Ext. 3, there are already 1900 stands.’
Ventersdorp–Potchefstroom merger
Boqo stressed that the DA was part of the Council meeting that adopted and approved the amalgamation, they even went to court to challenge it. ‘We have long passed the stage of amalgamation which was affected by the national government and not the municipality. We have received R13 million as a grant, which has been spent on the technical issues relating to the merger. We are still interacting with various national offices to get more.’
‘As JB Marks we don’t have water or electricity interruptions as Moolman claims. Our communities are receiving these services daily.’
‘The total Ventersdorp Eskom debt amounted to R50 349 979, to date an amount of R48 100 000 has been paid and the R2 249 979 will be settled in line with the payment agreement in April 2019,’ he concluded.
https://www.citizen.co.za/potchefstroom-herald/52281/fix-municipality-resign-da-tells-mayor/
