On Thursday evening 13th October, a public meeting was held in the Frankfort town hall, ostensibly to inform residents of the way ahead for the municipality of Mafube.
Mr T van Rensburg, FV+; Mr JL Ralebenya, MM; Mr TI Motsoeneng, Mayor; Mr T Mkaza, Leader of intervention team and Mr M Mokoena, Ward Councillor, Ward 5.
Unfortunately, the meeting was held in the dark, literary because it co-incided with load shedding, and poor acoustics made it difficult for the few in attendance to follow the proceedings. Microphones could not be used on the occasion.
The Municipal Manager, Mr. Josie Ralebenya in his usual bumptious manner addressed the meeting and attempted to convince those present that the accounting system of the municipality had been sorted out and that residents and businesses should start paying for municipal services. An opportunity was given for comments, questions and recommendations. These came in abundance but regrettably the answers hoped for were not forthcoming. Neither the Municipal Manager, nor the “administrator” Mr. Mkaza could, or wanted to respond with straightforward answers to the simple questions asked. Mr. Ralebenya proved himself to be a master of obfuscation and roundabout talk.
Mafube Business Forum (MBF) are of the view, as envisaged in local government legislation, that residents, business owners and ratepayers have an important role to play in the resurrection of their municipality and must be allowed active participation. Regrettably they are being denied by an officialdom of which the legitimacy is questionable. The lack of accountability, transparency and truthfulness was witnessed by those in attendance at this “public participation” event. It is clear from attending several of the municipality’s community meetings, that the “roadshow” serves no real purpose, since no minutes are kept and none of the concerns of residents, business owners and ratepayers were recorded, less so acted on.
Case in point is that despite reminding the municipal manager at 3 different meeting that the town of Cornelia have been without water for around a month, this issue is still denied by him. Even the petition with 500 signature from Cornelia residents is ignored. For the community, engagement at these meeting is an exercise in futility.
WHAT DID YOU WANT TO KNOW?
MBF picked up on a few straight forward questions, still to be satisfactorily answered by Messrs. Mkaza and Ralebenya. We also invite the public to add their questions in the comments section below or sending a WhatsApp or SMS message to Marina at 079 145 4295 or e-mail to info@mafubebf.org
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