By Emily Setona
QWAQWA – For the first time since the dawn of democracy the executive mayor of the Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality (TMDM) visited ward 15 along with representatives of several government departments.
Although some residents appreciated the visit, others reacted to the visit with disdain.
The TMDM took a decision to visit communities on the outskirts of the central business district (CBD), in the rural communites because it is not often that they have immediate access to some of the services that government offers them. This was part of the District Development Model (DDM) service delivery mandate that was communicated by district executive mayor Conny Msibi who addressed the community of ward 15 at Tsholo grounds on March 20.
Tina Kholomonyane an elderly woman who lives at Phahameng in Thabana Tsoana near Tsholo Secondary school said she is very happy that services have come to their community.
“As an old woman I plead with the government officials to prioritise us because some of us have chronic illnesses and cannot wait too long in queues. I am very happy that these services have come here because I need to apply for my smart card; so having Home Affairs come to us is a blessing. May God bless the mayor for bringing these services directly to us,”
Kholomonyane said in an interview with The Guard.
“As a community development organisation we are very happy to see the services that have been brought here because some of the people we work with don’t have ID documents. They struggle to go to SASSA or Home Affairs because of not having transport money to go to town and sometimes the queues in these places are long and require a person to go very early in the morning. So we are very happy about today’s service delivery imbizo,” said Dipuo Motatamali a volunteer from Sisterhood Advocate organisation.
However, some residents were not so receptive as they stated that the mayor hasn’t bought anything notable for this community since pertinent issues that are never prioritized are the fixing of roads, the creation of sports facilities for children, adequate water and electricity supply.
According to some of the disgruntled community members, the departments that came offered services that citizens can go and access by themselves.
Thabo Mofutsanyana district municipality executive mayor Conny Msibi leading service delivery imbizo at Thabana Tsooana.
Ward 15 councillor, Mabitle Moloi told this publication: “The main purpose of this day was to bring different departments to our community. We have cases where a lot of our community members have been struggling to get their IDs. The Chief overseeing this community is also very happy because since the dawn of democracy none of the district executive mayors have ever visited this community of ward 15.”
For her part, executive mayor Conny Msibi said the TMDM was in ward 15 as part of an initiative to ensure the District Development Model is realized.
“It is better if we have all the services on the same day in the same place because it saves time for the community members. It is best as the district if we work in the spirit of intergovernmental relations where we say we are going together as a district and the different departments, because people will receive all the services that they need – services that they don’t always have immediate access to,” Msibi said.
