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ZIWAPHI • VOL 4 NO 3 • 12 - 25 FEBRUARY 2010

BALFOUR

Residents of Siyathemba township near Balfour in Mpumalanga have threatened to make the municipality of Dipaliseng ungovernable until the area is re-demarcated so that it returns to Gauteng.

On Tuesday, 22 people who were arrested on Monday for public violence, theft and arson after they burnt a municipal office and looted shops belonging to foreign nationals were unable to appear in court as renewed protests began at the local stadium.

“(Residents) are burning tyres and blockading every road in the township. About 60 of our members are in the area trying to calm the situation,” said Spokesperson of the Balfour police station, Sergeant Sam Tshabalala.

He said the case against the 22 suspects had been rescheduled for Wednesday.

The protesters are accusing the local municipality of poor service delivery. They also accuse the Burnstone gold mine of failing to keep their promise to ensure that 50% of their employees were locals.

“We demand the resignation of all the councillors in the municipality. The first to go must the mayor and the municipal manager, they have failed us. We also demand the immediate re-demarcation of Balfour to Gauteng because Mpumalanga sucks when it comes to service delivery. You just have to look at what was happening last year to know what I am saying,” said a protest leader, Herbert Zitha, on Tuesday.

Zitha said Burnstone mine would also be forced to close its operations if they failed to employ more people from Siyathemba.

“We want this mine to remain true to the employment policy that they promised us when came here two years ago. More than 50% of locals are unemployed and the mine has instead employed people from other provinces,” he said.

Spokesperson of the Balfour police station, Sergeant Sam Tshabalala, said that matters had grown more tense by Tuesday as people started to regroup at the local stadium.

Municipal spokesperson, Mahlalefi Lebotha said the community was not protesting about service delivery, but about the mine.

“You know, the most unfortunate part is that when this thing started on Sunday, it was about the mine and its employment policy, but now that the media is asking questions, they have made it about poor service delivery,” said Lebotha on Tuesday.

He said the municipality will be meeting with officials from the provincial department of co-operative governance and traditional affairs on Tuesday to try and find a solution to the matter.

Burnstone mine spokesperson Tsolo Serunye said the mine would release a statement on the matter later on Tuesday.

In June last year, more than 100 people were arrested in the same township for public violence during week-long service delivery protests.

Service delivery protests broke out in five Mpumalanga municipalities last year. Provincial Premier David Mabuza blamed the protests on a lack of meaningful public participation and communication in matters that affect communities.

“What we have realised is that, as government, we continue to take decisions on behalf of the people. We are basically doing things for them and not with them” said Mabuza at the time.

On Tuesday, Mabuza’s spokesperson, Mabutho Sithole, said the Premier had deployed co-operative governance officials including MEC Norman Mokoena, to Balfour to address the matter.

“We are still requesting people to refrain from damaging government property. Communication is the solution,” said Sithole.