Ntirhisano gets Davidsonville residents talking

15 October 2015

 

Last night (Wednesday October 14), residents of Davidsonville, Roodepoort, in the City of Johannesburg’s Region C got a chance to hold local and provincial leaders to account as part of the Ntirhisano service-delivery imbizo.

 

Ntirhisano is a community outreach programme through which the Gauteng Provincial Government and municipalities within its jurisdiction seek to clear service-delivery breakdowns by fostering cooperation between government leaders and residents.

 

Earlier in the day, Johannesburg Executive Mayor Councillor Parks Tau and Gauteng Premier David Makhura opened a R2-million multipurpose centre in Leratong Village, near Kagiso on the West Rand. The centre boasts a soccer pitch and an outdoor gym. Work is under way in the nearby Tshepisong to build a water drainage system and improve infrastructure. The entourage also paid a surprise visit to Matholeville, where illegal mining activity has been taking place over several years. The zama zamas, as the illegal miners are called, fled the scene when the entourage arrived.

 

At the Davidsonville Multipurpose Centre hours later, Helen Moyce, who was the first to take the microphone, accused the government of making coloureds feel like stepchildren.

 

The meeting was attended by Premier Makhura, his executive council and members of the City of Johannesburg’s mayoral committee.

 

“This government is not looking after us. For months our grandchildren were not going to school [at the local primary school] because of petty politics. You don’t care for us or our children’s future. You are just here to get us to vote for you,” Moyce said.

 

Daniel van Zyl complained that unemployed youth were being forced into crime because doors were being shut in their faces.

“As a parent, it saddens me to see my kids so hopeless. And we all know that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop,” said Van Zyl to applause.

 

Criselda Lewis complained about the slow pace of the RDP housing rollout in coloured communities.

“Just because we don’t toyi-toyi and burn down libraries, no one in the City takes our plight seriously. Why do we need to be anarchists for the government to listen to us,” Lewis asked.

 

Davidsonville was earlier this year the scene of fierce battles between black and coloured parents at Davidsonville Primary School, resulting in the school’s temporary closure.

 

Last night Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi reassured residents that calm had been restored at the school and that learners were gearing up for their end-of-year exams. MEC Lesufi added that some of the local residents had been provided with jobs at the school to alleviate unemployment.

 

Member of the Mayoral Council for Community Development Councillor Chris Vondo, speaking on behalf of Mayor Tau, said residents on the City’s 96-97 housing waiting list would be allocated houses at the nearby Fleurhof housing development.

 

Premier Makhura reassured residents that “the current administration I have the pleasure of leading is the government of all the people”.

 

“When there were problems at the primary school, I promised to return and here I am. I want to work with you in resolving service-delivery problems,” the Premier said.