Deprecated: str_replace(): Passing null to parameter #3 ($subject) of type array|string is deprecated in /home/zbyiujsu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/jnews-social-share/class.jnews-initial-counter.php on line 40
Deprecated: str_replace(): Passing null to parameter #3 ($subject) of type array|string is deprecated in /home/zbyiujsu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/jnews-social-share/class.jnews-initial-counter.php on line 40
Deprecated: str_replace(): Passing null to parameter #3 ($subject) of type array|string is deprecated in /home/zbyiujsu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/jnews-social-share/class.jnews-initial-counter.php on line 40
Deprecated: str_replace(): Passing null to parameter #3 ($subject) of type array|string is deprecated in /home/zbyiujsu/public_html/wp-content/plugins/jnews-social-share/class.jnews-initial-counter.php on line 40
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Minister of Cooperative Governance (Cogta), was escorted out of Komani on Monday after residents chased her away during a visit.
Dlamini-Zuma was in Komani to address complaints from residents who had written to her asking her to dissolve the Enoch Mgijima municipality.
The letter prompted her to meet with community, traditional, and religious leaders, as well as business and municipal leaders, to see for herself. However, when she provided feedback to the community, the enraged audience yelled at her to leave.
This was after she informed the community that she would have to address their concerns at the upcoming cabinet meeting rather than engaging them immediately.
“The community was not happy with the process part of it and said she must go to cabinet, but they would burn the town. Disbanding a municipality cannot be done on the basis of a letter,” Cogta spokesperson Lungi Mtshali said.
“But she spent the whole day listening to them to develop rapport. Obviously, when people have been living in such conditions for too long, they are not always rational, and we accept that. They don’t want to hear about the process but want to hear solutions,” Mtshali said.
In videos widely circulated on social media, Dlamini-Zuma is seen being escorted by marshals as people shout for her to leave. “Let her leave we can’t hear what she saying,” the crowd shouted.
Mtshali stated that it was unclear what the exact grievances were and why the community wanted the municipality to collapse. However, it appeared to be related to service delivery issues such as water, electricity, and illegal connections.
He claimed that residents complained that they had raised concerns with the mayor but had been ignored.
“We understand their frustration, and we were not deterred by the narrative that [the minister] was chased away. She spoke to them, and they didn’t want to hear about the process … You can tell there is genuine frustration, but we have to be the ones who guide people. The minister can’t go and say she will dissolve the municipality based on a letter,” he said.
To protest poor service delivery, enraged residents shut down the N6 highway from Johannesburg to East London.
This is the same municipality that built an R15 million “stadium” that turned out to be a few grandstands around an open field.
Mtshali explained that the minister would return to the community once she had conferred with the cabinet.
“It is our role and responsibility to educate the community, and sometimes they will just do what they did on Monday. We can’t and do not want to lie to them and promise them things. Normally, the cabinet will issue a statement, and we go to the community as soon as we have an answer from the cabinet,” he said.