We don't want ward candidate‚ North West villagers tell ANC

28 July 2016 - 18:03 By Boitumelo Tshehle

With less than a week to go before the elections‚ attempts by the ANC in the North West to convince angry villagers that government will deliver services to them irrespective of who their ward councillor is fell on deaf ears.On Wednesday Mareetsane residents left a three-hour meeting angry because they believed that their demands had not been met. They wanted to know why they had not been given a say in choosing the election candidate in their ward.Ratlou local municipality speaker Matshidiso Mongala tried to calm the angry crowd‚ but was told to keep quiet as she did not know what she was talking about. The villagers said they wanted a councillor to come from their village‚ someone who would understand their frustration about the lack of services. They also want a 24-hour clinic‚ RDP houses‚ proper roads‚ water and a shopping mall.The villagers have been barricading the roads with burning tyres for the past three days."We admit that the municipality has not done enough‚ but we have a plan to bring services here in Mareetsane‚" Mongala said.The meeting was called by the Ngaka Modiri Molema Regional Executive Committee in response to a three-day strike during which villagers demanded the removal of the ANC ward councillor candidate whose picture was on the election posters in the area. ..

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