Premier reveals plans for Westonaria

Gauteng premier Nomvula Mokonyane announced plans on Tuesday to develop the West Rand, particularly Westonaria and Randfontein.

“We have plans in place. We are going to [work] very vigorously on the West Rand,” she told reporters in Johannesburg.

She said the plan was for Mogale City to be the anchor of future development. She appealed to the public to rally behind the programmes. She admitted that the process would be tough as the budget was thin.

“The immediate reality is that the revenue is very thin. We need everyone to help. The future of the West Rand will depend on the three spheres of government,” Mokonyane said.

The announcement came against the backdrop of service delivery protests in Bekkersdal. The township has been plagued by violent protests, with residents demanding the removal of their mayor.

The protests have resulted in government property being vandalised and pupils being taken out of school. Streets in the township have been barricaded. 

Mokonyane said the damage to government property in the area would be a setback to service delivery and would put a strain on future plans.

“It [damage to property] is a setback because resources that could have gone to development will have to be used to repair the damages,” she said.

Mokonyane, West Rand mayor Mpho Nawa, Gauteng economic development MEC Mxolisi Xhayiya and Westonaria mayor Nonkoliso Tundzi said the announcement about the development plans was not triggered by the protests.

“We are not responding to the protests. We want to build a better future for the people of the West Rand,” said Nawa.

Mokonyane also announced the establishment of an intergovernmental task team consisting of representatives of the national and provincial departments of co-operative governance and traditional affairs, performance monitoring and evaluation, and the Treasury.

“This team will work closely with the Westonaria local municipality to deal with governance issues and setting up of sound management practices,” she said.

The team would remodel the municipality’s credit control system, put in place a functional billing system, and review the indigent policy.

Neighbouring municipalities would provide additional capacity.   “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,” she said.

Mokonyane said she had noted allegations of mismanagement, fraud and corruption against the municipality. She urged residents to petition their public representatives in the Gauteng legislature.   “This will be subjected to an investigation and the outcome of that process will inform how we proceed,” she said.