Government concerned about violent protests 25 July 2007 Gauteng Local Government MEC Qedani Dorothy Mahlangu has called on communities to use peaceful means when raising their legitimate grievances rather than to resort to violence. Addressing the Gauteng Housing Summit themed: 'Building a Global City Region Through Human Settlement Beyond 2009' in Boksburg on Wednesday, MEC Mahlangu said most of the protests were well orchestrated by individuals or groups who were aware of government plans to develop their townships, but were wanting to sow division in communities. She said the recent spate of protests, occurring mainly in informal settlements were a cause for concern. "These protests occur mainly in the most under-developed settlements and issues that characterise these protests include lack of housing, electricity, sanitation, clean water, allegations of corruption, resistance to relocate from invaded land which is sometimes dolomitic, quality of houses, evictions and to some extent the size of the houses." "It is worrying that these protests have been characterised by unprecedented violence. Organisations leading these protests have targeted informal settlements such as Orange Farm, Vlakfontein, Hospital Hill, Freedom Park , Thembelihle, Eikenhof, Slovo Park and recently Kliptown," she said. "The question we need to ask about these protests is why now? Are they frustrated at the slow pace of delivery? Is it the work of agitators? Or is it because of ineffective councillors? Or is it because of lack of communication by government?" "Are these grievances genuine? Or is it because of ineffective public participation channels? Or because of the impact of unemployment and poverty or maybe the preparation by opposition parties for the 2009 Elections?" said the MEC. Mahlangu said results of the bi-annual Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSS) revealed that Gauteng citizens in informal settlements were more likely to recognise that local government had improved over the past ten years. They were also more likely to be extremely satisfied with municipalities than the rest of the population. "And informal dwellers as a whole are more likely to have engaged with local government through ward meetings. It's not as if they have not been given an opportunity to voice their concerns, but actual delivery on promises made is lacking and patience appears to be running thin." Mahlangu said there was a need to raise awareness of local government through structures and organisations. Key to that is the integrated development plan which is intended to provide an interaction platform with citizens. "Awareness of mayors also shows room for improvement. Satisfaction ratings for mayors are closely linked to overall satisfaction ratings within respective municipalities. As with mayors, satisfaction ratings with councillors are closely aligned to satisfaction with overall service delivery. Awareness of councillors' roles and responsibilities show high 'don't know' responses throughout and need to be addressed and further interpreted by clients," Mahlangu added. Housing MEC Nomvula Mokonyane said while they acknowledged that some of the protests may have been legitimate, it is worrying that these take place even where development is happening. "We know that some residents have been waiting patiently for delivery of services, but we are also aware that a few individuals within these communities are exploiting the situation for their own selfish interests," said Mokonyane. "The assurance that we give our people is that if delivery has not happened in your area it will soon happen as it did in other areas where people waited patiently. We are also coming to your community. What we humbly ask of our people is co-operation and understanding as we strive to deliver on our mandate." For more information contact: Mandla Sidu
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