Issued by: North West Communication Service
SPEECH BY NORTH WEST PREMIER POPO MOLEFE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE MUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAMME AT ZEERUST ON SATURDAY MARCH 30.
I bring you sincere greetings from the Cabinet of the government of the province. Ikageleng is a township which generally has the characteristics of many other townships in South Africa in terms of the lack of proper planning and inadequate delivery of essential services.
But as a rural township it does not differ much from the vast rural area which surrounds it. Like other settlements in this area, it lacks adequate housing, water and sanitation, road infrastructure, educational facilities and many other basic amenities.
Owing to the long history of discrimination, forced removals and apartheid, townships like Ikageleng are over-populated and do not have enough resources. When this government came into being in May 1994, it was not easy to meet these basic needs without having legitimate structures of governance which had the capacity to implement the programmes designed to reduce the existing infrastructure and service disparities.
The establishment of credible local councils following the local government elections of November last year is the foundation on which the strategy for urban renewal and sustained development can take place.
The strategic goal is to reverse apartheid created backlogs by providing urban infrastructure services like water, sanitation, electricity, solid waste disposal, drainage, roads and telecommunication to historically under serviced townships such as Ikageleng. The aim of this strategy is to improve the overall quality of the urban environment and to remove the health and other hazards which are inherent in badly planned areas.
The vision of the government is to develop towns to become centres of economic and social opportunity where people can live and work in safety and peace. With a democratic, efficient and accountable local council in place, the historically divided inhabitants of the town and township will be able to make residential and economic choices without the constraints of racial and gender discrimination and segregation.
Today we are launching the municipal infrastructure programme which has been initiated by the provincial government to meet the most urgent needs which are water supply and modern sewer reticulation. This programme is being implemented at that level because when the need was identified, a democratically elected local council was not yet in place.
However, the basic principle of the RDP is that development must be people-driven, integrated and sustained with the assistance of the people. The RDP is biased towards the needs of the people, and it is the people who are better placed to identify their own needs.
It is important therefore for the people in Zeerust to support their councillors and to give them all the co-operation they need. Unless there is maximum co-operation and understanding, we will not be able to develop Zeerust to become an efficient and productive town free of poverty and joblessness.
Unnecessary conflict among.ourselves will hamper any efforts aimed at reducing the disparities in infrastructure and service delivery.
All our people have to refrain from occupying land set aside for other development, because to do so would have the effect of delaying measures aimed at improving security of land tenure for our people. Uncontrolled land acquisition will not improve the quality of the environment in view of the health hazards brought about by squatting.
The assistance which the residents of Ikageleng, Welbbedacht and other settlements can give the local council and therefore help develop their area is to pay for services, bonds and rental obligations. The money from the government earmarked for reconstruction and development will never be enough to reduce the backlogs which were created by apartheid.
If we do not play our role in contributing to our own development, Zeerust will never grow to be a city in which people have jobs, houses, adequate water and sanitation facilities, libraries, electricity and all the things that cities like Johannesburg and Cape Town have. Zeerust will continue to be a rural town without opportunities for growth and individual development.
We need to demonstrate our commitment to the principles of the RDP by adhering to them. Unless we the beneficiaries of the programme ensure that we pay for what we receive, it is going to be difficult for the mayor, her council and other community leaders to convince the banks and housing developers to invest in this town.
It is important that we do not scare financial institutions away form this town because the backlogs are a long way from being totally removed. We still have a long way to go before we can have all the houses we need; the sewer reticulation we are constructing is still at the first phase: we still need more money to improve this town so that many more people will have jobs, we will have enough schools, clinics, more electricity, more industries and a whole lot of things that we still need.
The government is committed to play its role of mobilising all the resources of our country to improve this town. I am happy to announce that the provincial government is handing over an amount of R1 million to the local council to implement the projects that will eventually make this town to become a centre of economic and scial opportunities for all. This money is not to be used for any other purpose, except for the development of infrastructure.
In conclusion, Chairperson, I would like to encourage our council and the people of Zeerust to co-operate with one another for the eventual eradication of apartheid. The two elections we have had paved the way to remove apartheid. What is left to be done is to break down that which apartheid created: the bucket system, lack of water and other ills.
Heightened levels of co-operation within the district council, between the council and the people will see development going to areas such as Lekubung, Mosweu, Motswedi, Papierstad and the whole province.