Council has duty to enforce decisions

2016-04-27 06:00

ALFRED MOSIA, Bohlokong, Bethlehem:

THE apple project in Dihlabeng, situated on the outskirts of Bethlehem, was born and bred in council.

The local council played a major role towards the establishment of that project. It would be imperative for council to see to it that this project succeeds, especially because it was conceived in council.

The main purpose was to empower people and to create jobs.

I find it very disappoining that this project had now been declared bankrupt.

Rumours have been spreading that the beneficiaries who, during the inception of the project, were promising and vibrant, have been reduced to employees merely earning salaries.

I have been waiting to hear from council. I have heard nothing from their side.

Now the project is being declared bankrupt. Still I do not hear anything from council.

The big question is: When and why did council abdicate?

It seems to be council’s attitude that certain decisions were taken by the previous council of the mayor, and that this is a new council and that it is not bound by old decisions.

Such people should not be in government. They are causing irreparable damage.

There is a long outstanding case in which beneficiaries were allocated houses by the then Bethlehem Transitional Local Council, but never received these.

Those poor people are still homeless and I am sure they will never again own houses, because they have been registered as home owners.

The story goes that when the Dihlabeng Local Louncil came into power, it declared that the decision of the previous council did not bind them.

As a result they allocated the houses to their comrades.

They then took the matter to the now minister, Msebenzi Zwane, who said those beneficiaries should be given first preference.

In Vogelfontein, a councillor who is still maintaining that the decision of the Bethlehem Transitional Local Council is not binding, removed the documents of the poor people from the offices of the council’s Department of Housing and the process has come to a standstill.

As usual, the ANC is going to buy votes in the coming elections by allocating houses on the eve of the elections.

Again, I am appealing to the beneficiaries of the apple project and other interested stakeholders to approach the council to try and resolve this matter as a matter of urgency.

The main purpose of the project was to develop those beneficiaries and to create jobs.

Where and why did they fail?

The project did not get off the ground whilst still in the hands of the beneficiaries.

The project must be revived.


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