North West Premier, Job Mokgoro, has appointed an Administrator – Dr Ditaba Rantsane – for the community of Baphalane ba Ramokoka near Rustenburg.
This follows months of unrest in the villages of Ramokokastad, which severely affected the provisions of essential services, including schooling and health.
Residents embarked on protest action in July, accusing the Baphalane traditional council of maladministration and corruption.
The protests which saw a local clinic, schools and several houses torched resulted in some learners missing their final examinations, and residents having to travel over 30 kilometres to access health services. Other services were also halted, including public transport.
Now stability seems to have returned to the area and surrounding villages. Among the community demands, was for an administrator to be appointed to run the affairs of the village.
Mokgoro explains, “The Administrator will take over the functions of the Traditional Council that are prescribed in the law, so that there should be a movement forward. So that the community of Baphalane should find each other and able to continue with the lives and work with government in repairing whatever wounds, whatever damages that have been brought there on the community.”
Mokgoro also brought along representatives from different departments to assure the community that all services will be restored. Bojanala Chief Director for Health, Pule Monale, explains their plan of action.
“We are going to institute mobile services to restore the service in the meantime we then have infrastructure assessment which would determine how soon we can be able to have new infrastructure running. And then the second step would be to get park homes should be a temporary facility which will then be utilised for the services.”
The community has welcomed the intervention by the provincial government. Community leader Charles Makinita says, “I am so very happy that services are back and the appointment of the administrator is a good thing so that the community will come back to normal. Our children will now go to school and at least there is arrangement that has been done by various departments.”
Other residents had this to say when expressing their satisfaction: “We are hoping that once services are restored we will be able to find jobs and those who want to go back to school will be able to do so.”
“We are very happy that our struggle to go to the Union building was not in vain.”
All other services are expected to be completely restored in the New Year.
