Police escort Msimanga, Maimane out of Ga-Rankuwa
TSHWANE mayor Solly Msimanga and DA leader Mmusi Maimane had to be escorted out of a youth development centre in Ga-Rankuwa by police yesterday after hostile residents threatened to disrupt their visit. The pair were there to interact with young entrepreneurs from a small business project called Ga-Rankuwa Arts and Crafts Centre.
They were insulted by angry residents, who complained about poor service delivery.
The group took Msimanga by surprise when they insisted he address long-standing service delivery complaints, which ranged from sewage spillages to poor infrastructure.
Msimanga listened as they vented their anger. Their interaction started off peacefully, but emotions ran high when another group of residents arrived. They demanded that Msimanga leave their area.
Others accused him of wanting to drum up support for the DA in the run-up to the general elections next year.
The police were called in to escort Msimanga and Maimane out of the venue. Resident Mduduzi Mopai said many people in GaRankuwa Zone 14 had lived in shacks since 2013.
“The mayor came to our settlement in 2016 when he was canvassing for votes. He promised the community electricity and to formalise their area, but since then nothing has happened.”
Mopai said the community was surprised to learn about the mayor’s visit to the centre instead of Zone 14, where, he said, services were most needed.
“Sewage is overflowing everywhere in the township. Some of the roads there are not tarred and they become impassable during the rainy season.”
Msimanga said: “What is happening here is very telling. We had a group of people who said we want to engage with you, mayor. And this is one of the areas that we have been wanting to come and address issues of services, but we have been blocked time and time again. Today what is happening is a classic example of that.”
He said there were people who genuinely wanted to engage with him, while others wanted to cause havoc.
“We need to move beyond politicising service delivery. I am committed to delivering services across the city, but there are those who are hell-bent on ensuring that we don’t hear the communities,” he said.
Msimanga told community members that he would host a meeting with them within two weeks. He said the City would ensure the meeting took place despite the possibility some would disrupt it.
Some roads in the township were barricaded with rocks by residents. Msimanga said the protest was fuelled by poor service delivery by Eskom.
“Eskom is supplying direct electricity to a certain section in Ga-Rankuwa, Mabopane and Winterveld. We have written to them to say they need to fix the infrastructure that has collapsed, or they sign over to the municipality so that the municipality can begin to do that on its own. That is something that we are still waiting for them to respond to.”
He said it was unfortunate that the city suffered due to Eskom’s inability: “What is more hurting is that when communities are angry, they don’t go and turn on Eskom, they turn on the municipality and burn some of the municipality’s infrastructure.
“Right now in Winterveld we have a depot of the municipality that was burnt. Some of the vehicles were burnt for something that is not related to us but to Eskom.”
Maimane said the City had injected at least R2 billion into the development of the township economy.
“Our whole view as an organisation and party is that we need to create work for our people and ensure that South Africans can find work,” he explained.
He said the future of the country was about helping small businesses.
Entrepreneurs at the centre were given opportunities to start and run their small businesses through the FabLab programme, an initiative advanced by the DA-led administration in partnership with the Innovation Hub Management Company.
“I decided to see for myself how you help support micro enterprises and small businesses to be able to thrive and create work,” Maimane said.
Project manager Buti Makama expressed gratitude for the visit by the political leaders.
“This is a great gesture and we really appreciate it. Going forward, I hope the youth will take part in the programmes that we offer here, which are available free of charge. They should come and ensure that they run sustainable businesses and create jobs for others.”