By Emily Setona
HARRISMITH – Residents of Intabazwe used a community engagement session with Free State MECs on Thursday to voice deep frustrations over stalled housing projects, unfinished developments and the lack of progress on the long-promised Smart City initiative.
The engagement held on 2 July at the Intabazwe Multipurpose Hall, was attended by MECs Jabu Mbalula, Monyatso Mahlatsi and Saki Mokoena, and saw most concerns directed at the Department of Human Settlements.
Resident Ntsane Motloung questioned government employment programmes that mainly target young people, saying those older than 35 are excluded from both jobs and social support.
“We are too young for pensions but too old for jobs. Must we be thrown into the dustbin?” Motloung asked.
Residents also expressed frustration over years of unfulfilled development promises. One resident said the logistics hub, first announced in 2010, had not translated into visible development, while the closure of the De Beers corridor had contributed to rising unemployment and substance abuse among young people.
Several speakers called for Harrismith to be delinked from Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality, arguing that the town receives less attention and fewer services than neighbouring QwaQwa.
Ward 4 resident Thabo Mlaba said his family continues to live in a shack despite repeated appeals to government.
“I am growing old inside a shack and my children will grow up and die inside the same shack,” he said, adding that a memorandum submitted to Executive Mayor Tumelo Thebe had received no response.
Thapelo Mosia said incomplete construction projects have become a danger to residents.
“We have developments that start and then contractors leave. There are open holes where people fall, and criminals dump bodies there,” he said.
Dumisani Zwani said residents were promised houses and the removal of asbestos structures, but no progress had been made.
Community member Ibrahim Mbolombo urged government to show greater respect for residents by completing projects once they begin.
“We want developments that are finished, not construction sites left with holes and debris,” he said, while also reiterating calls for Harrismith to be separated from Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality.
Responding on behalf of the Department of Human Settlements, Dr Mphulane Ramorena acknowledged that the Smart City forms part of a phased informal settlement development programme, but said progress had stalled after provincial funding was redirected to other priorities.
MEC for Cooperative Governance, Traditional Affairs and Human Settlements Saki Mokoena said the Smart City project had been halted after government identified challenges with its implementation and funding was reduced from R68 million to R58 million.
He said the department is now prioritising serviced sites to enable families living in shacks to access formal housing and is also implementing a programme to eradicate two-room houses.
He said eradicating asbestos roofs is a very costly exercise and it is currently being implemented in Senekal.
Addressing calls for Harrismith to be delinked from Maluti-a-Phofung Municipality, Mokoena said the matter is before the courts following decisions by the Municipal Demarcation Board.
“We will honour the legal outcomes as long as services are brought closer to the people,” he said.
Mokoena acknowledged that many of the frustrations raised by residents were legitimate and committed government to working with the municipality and the community to address the challenges.
