New borders on cards for Lim and city

POLOKWANE – A proposal is on the table for the Polokwane municipal area to be expanded to incorporate part of the Aganang Municipality.

According to Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) chairperson, Jane Thupana, cooperative governance and traditional affairs minister, Pravin Gordhan, last Thursday requested that certain municipalities’ municipal boundaries be redetermined as these specific municipalities were “dysfunctional and non-viable” in terms of the Municipal Demarcation Act, Section 22(2).

Gordhan requested that the demarcation be done before the 2016 local government elections with a view to optimise some municipalities’ financial viability.

At the same time, the wards’ boundaries in Polokwane would also be redetermined, with some existing wards’ boundaries being changed and the creation of new wards.

Parts of the Aganang Municipality would be integrated into the Molemole and Blouberg municipalities.

Polokwane was just one of several municipalities in the province that would undergo boundary changes. Other proposals on the table included combining the Mookgophong and Modimolle municipalities to make one municipality, the dissolving of the Mutale Municipality and integration of this area into the Musina and Makhado municipalities, the dissolving of Maruleng Municipality and integration of this area into the Tzaneen and Phalaborwa municipalities and the dissolving of the Fetakgomo Municipality and integration of this area into the Tubatse and Makhuduthamaga municipalities.

Thupana further said certain role players, including the ministers of the various government departments and the Independent Electoral Commission, had 21 days in which to respond in writing to the proposals by Gordhan.

She further said municipal managers would have to discuss these suggested changes with their communities and traditional leaders.

Polokwane’s public participation process would have taken place on Friday, however, this was postponed to a date still to be announced.