POLOKWANE – Mayor Thembi Nkadimeng is at her happiest when she can help others, especially the elderly.
“To know I can make a difference is wonderful for me. Walking through the house of an elderly person and listening to the stories of her youth and seeing her gratefulness for the electricity that she has received, that is what it is about. That is what makes me happy.”
Nkadimeng spoke about her first three months in office as mayor during an interview with Review on Tuesday.
Regarding the Motor City development, which has seen many controversial matters preventing the development from getting off the ground, Nkadimeng said the municipality worked on getting it “off the ground in full force”.
“The matter of a possible court case was dealt with and the municipal manager was cleared after an investigation of charges of fraud. We are now ready to proceed with the development.”
She explained the current situation regarding the proposed integrated transport system, which was met with opposition by taxi owners.
“I have already met with the taxi owners twice. They did not fully understand the situation, or that they would be appointed as drivers of the buses. A social facilitator was appointed to deal with these issues one by one. Their attitude, however, is positive and not adversarial.”
The valuation roll and supplementary valuation roll was also a bone of contention for some.
“There were many objections, more than usual. The period for objections has closed, but Mankweng has asked for a month’s extension, until the end of November, which was granted.
“The issue of some developers who are complaining about land not yet developed, but earmarked for development, is being addressed. The developers pay more in assessment rates, but there are cases where the municipality applied the wrong code or classification.
“It is a case of the legal definition of what ‘vacant land’ constitutes which caused a problem.
“The fact that the valuers did not do physical inspections did not help with the classification that was wrongly done in some areas.
“There is also an issue that property is not selling fast enough as the economy is slow and this is also a problem for developers who have to pay the applicable assessment rates,” she said.
Service delivery in Man-kweng received attention on a continuous basis, she said.
“Some people do not want to pay assessment rates although they own large houses. We will not budge on that one. Those who must pay will have to pay.
“Each case will be assessed on its own merit. The owners of houses worth less than R100 000 do not pay assessment rates, but the others will have to pay.
“The issue of indigents and free water and electricity has been explained to residents and those who qualify have been invited to register.”
Regarding the settlers of smallholdings in Leeuw-kuil, which was known as the Jansen Park settlement, and has lately been named Mogano Park, Nkadimeng said: “We will just have to go through the entire process and rezone the area.
“The ownership of the land is now in private hands. The owners, whether it is a community trust or whatever, will have to say which portion will be residential and the whole issue will have to be regularised before the municipality can even begin to budget for services,” Nkadimeng said, despite of the municipality’s previous stance that they would begin eviction notices as settlement on this land was illegal.
“I am looking forward to my next stretch as mayor, and to help more people,” she concluded.
