Residents of Mmatau Village in the Moses Kotane Local Municipality in the North West say they have taken it upon themselves to fix dilapidated tarred road using their own money, resources, and labour.
They say they have no choice but to do this because for years the municipality has been promising to repair the road, but its promises have not come to fruition.
The last straw for the residents was the Moses Kotane Local Municipality allegedly telling them that their road was not on its priority list of those that need to be repaired.
The residents formed a group called #ReAItirela, which means, #WeAreDoingItOurselves, with the aim of tackling service delivery concerns in their village.
“The road was bad in which during rainy seasons, it’s a big challenge. The kids are struggling to get to school because of the road, workers also struggle because the bus has to travel on that road and it is very bad. That is why we ended up saying, as the municipality is failing to help us, we better not sit back and try to help ourselves,” explains Community Leader, Nosa Kgobane.
The residents say the municipality is aware of their plight. But Kgobane says it insists that there was no budget for the project.
“The municipality is aware of the state of the road, the response from the mayor was there is no budget. The only people focused on were villages that pay services. So, as we are not paying services as Bakoena ba Modimosana, service is not rendered to us,” he adds.
Municipal Mayor, Ralesole Diale, has denied the allegations, saying it is not a true reflection of the agreement that had been reached.
“I would like to deny those false allegations made by the Mmatau community regarding the fixing of the internal road. The 5.6 km internal road in Mmatau was inspected by the municipality with the aim of rehabilitating or sealing it to be implemented in terms of the integrated development plan (IDP) which the municipal plan. The municipality had a meeting with the Mmatau Tribal Council, Bakoena ba Modimosana. It was agreed to embark on a Letseme activity, patching of potholes while waiting for the rehabilitation of the new road,” says the Mayor.
Kgobane says despite the municipality’s promises, they funded the project themselves. But Diale says they assisted.
