Despite the North West government’s efforts to put Kgetlengrivier Local Municipality under administration, disgruntled communities of Koster and Swartruggens are demanding the removal of Mayor Kim Medupe and the dissolution of the council.
Residents marched on the municipal offices with a memorandum of demands, mainly service delivery.
The municipality is one of eight in the North West placed under Section 139-1b of the Constitution. This means neither the mayor nor the council have any administrative powers.
“We have a dam that is full to capacity but we are suffering with water,” said one resident. “This is the seventh march or memorandum and nothing positive has been done, “added another one.
The municipality says it doesn’t have administrative powers any more: “There was a press release by the premier in terms of which indicated that our municipality is placed under Section 139-1b. So what that section it actually entails in short as the municipality we do not have administration powers. So what will happen is that the administrator will be seconded to our municipality,” said Municipal Manager, Joseph Mogale.
