Government attempts to stabilise Bekkersdal

Gauteng Premier, Nomvula Mokoyane says Bekkersdal will be helped. Image: Joburg

In the past two weeks, Westonaria has experienced service delivery protests disrupting the provision of basic services.

Speaking to journalists in Johannesburg, Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane said there were two issues that government needed to deal with.

"Firstly, we need to stabilise Westonaria, especially Bekkersdal, so that the situation returns to normal for the residents and secondly, we must ensure that matric exams are not interrupted," she said. "That is why I issued a directive to the MEC for Education that the learners must be moved to a location where they will feel safe while they write exams like any other learner in the province," said Mokonyane.

Bekkersdal falls under the Westonaria Local Municipality, with over 40,000 households, of which 16,000 are situated in informal settlements. In Bekkersdal there are 13,000 informal households many of them indigent.

The Gauteng Provincial Government says the municipality has been struggling to provide basic services such as water, sanitation and refuse removal in these informal settlements.

The existing sewer system, which was developed in 1945 for a small population, can no longer cope with the increased use, putting an additional strain on the existing infrastructure.

Intervention

To alleviate the pressure on the network, Mokonyane said 8,000 VIP toilets were provided to the area, and 5,000 of these are in Bekkersdal. The Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs has provided sanitation trucks to service these toilets. In addition, Aqua Jets are used to help unblock the sewer system.

Mokonyane said the situation was further compounded by municipal workers being prevented from doing maintenance work in the area, adding that because of the high population in the area, the municipality hasn't been able to cope with refuse removal and increasing levels of illegal dumping.

The provincial government's short-term intervention plan to deal with service delivery lapses includes the immediate establishment of an intergovernmental task team. This task team will comprise representatives from both the national and provincial Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Departments (COGTA); Performance Monitoring and Evaluation; the National and Provincial Treasury, including officials seconded from other Gauteng municipalities.

The team will work closely with the Westonaria Local Municipality to deal with governance issues and setting up of sound management practices.

"Furthermore, we have negotiated with neighbouring municipalities to provide additional capacity to help clear the backlogs. The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport will provide additional capacity for refuse collection and repairing of roads and other infrastructure," Mokonyane said.

She also addressed allegations of mismanagement, fraud and corruption levelled against the municipality.

"We urge the community to use the petitions process in the Gauteng Legislature to petition their public representatives so that investigations can be undertaken," she said.