Residents name Plot 323
About 400 residents from different plots in the ward came out to witness this momentous occasion of the unveiling the signboard and the launching of the rules of conduct the residents are to abide by.
Despite the tourism aspect, every city, town, suburb and township is popular because of its branding, which gives identity and symbolic meaning to the name of that particular location.
Instead of just being called Plot 323 dwellers, the residents of the new, temporary structures unveiled the name of their settlement on Sunday, 25 October.
Ikemeleng Village was the name given to this settlement in Ward 97. Ikemeleng, which means to be independent, is derived from the organisation called Ikemeleng, which was the driving force for service delivery when the dwellers were evicted from a nearby plot and left bare in the tents.
About 400 residents from different plots in the ward came out to witness this momentous occasion of the unveiling the signboard and the launching of the rules of conduct the residents are to abide by.
Lebo Mafokane, the Ward 97 ANC deputy chairperson, who played a pivotal role in organising the reports for dwellers’ plight to receive urgent attention from government, reflected on the occasion.
“All the residents praised the united and hard-working Ikemeleng leadership for all the success achieved within a short period of time. This includes the first-ever public service points in the history of Ward 97. So far a mobile clinic, Home Affairs and Sassa services are deployed inside Ikemeleng Village on Mondays,” he said.
In addition, Mafokane said the Department of Small Business Development has recently established cooperatives for the Ikemeleng community through the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), as part of enterprise development, job creation in Ward 97 and empowerment of the Ikemeleng community.
“These projects include agro-processing; vegetable production; sewing – clothing and textile; brick-making; catering, bread manufacturing; ICT; trading; and auxiliary, among others,” he explained.
He also mentioned that the jubilant residents made a commitment to remain united and to rally behind its leadership even towards the ultimate goal of relocating all the residents to Haylon Hills near Eagle Canyon Country Estate.
Mofokane concluded by indicating that the City has started the process of building houses for all qualifying Ward 97 plot dwellers at the earmarked location.
