The Mogale City Local Municipality’s Mayoral Committee Member for Human Settlements, Merriam Mogoje, caused serious division in the Hekpoort and Hartebeesfontein rural community in Gauteng on Monday evening by accusing white landowners of driving black people from their land.
She encouraged residents of informal settlements to occupy land in the vicinity belonging to Mogale City. The Mayor of Mogale City, Lucky Sele, supported Mogoje, adding that the Municipality would formalise the occupied land and provide services.
These rash statements were made amid a volatile political climate in an area where crime is rampant.
Mogale City has recently come under scrutiny for undertaking large-scale housing projects, such as Brickvale in Tarlton and the Dr Sefularo Village, which were built and are now occupied without functioning sewage treatment plants or the required environmental impact assessments.
All while raw sewage is spilling into dolomitic soil and the existing settlements in Hekpoort also do not have refuse removal services or sewage treatment systems.
The Municipality is, furthermore, responsible for the extensive pollution of the Blougat Tributary, Crocodile River and the Hartebeespoort Dam due to the malfunctioning Percy Stewart Water Treatment Plant in Krugersdorp.
Landowners in Hekpoort and Hartebeesfontein are already embroiled in a court case with Mogale City regarding non-compliance with SPLUMA legislation concerning the Dr Sefularo Village development, which will house over 2 000 people and whose inadequate sewage treatment plant discharges just 10 meters above the Magalies River.
The Mogale City Mayor and relevant environmental officials will soon appear before the Gauteng Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Environmental Affairs to discuss the negligent pollution of scarce water resources in Gauteng. The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) chairs this Portfolio Committee.
Mogale City is causing turmoil in West Gauteng’s rural areas by promising housing to thousands of people in an area zoned as agricultural land, which is also a recognised UNESCO World Heritage site, and where job opportunities are scarce.
The Freedom Front Plus will also lodge complaints against the Mayor and the relevant Mayoral Committee Member with the Mogale City Council’s Ethics Committee.
