Vhembe Contralesa says no to property rates

Traditional leaders under the umbrella of Contralesa in Vhembe made their intentions known, when they said no to property rates in their villages.

This transpired during a meeting called by traditional leaders to iron out outstanding matters in the organization, held at the Vhembe District Municipality chambers at the weekend.

The meeting, which was supposed to be an AGM where a new committee could be elected, had to be postponed due to some unforeseen technicalities. An executive committee meeting to prepare for the AGM will be held on Saturday (tomorrow) and the actual AGM will be held on September 14.

Amongst the issues that were discussed were the Communal Land Rights Act of 2004, the matter of remuneration of traditional leaders, a new grocery scheme for indigents, a membership drive and joining fee, a new date for the AGM, disaster management and property rates.

It transpired during the meeting that all traditional leaders were not in favour of the proposed municipality property rates to be introduced in the villages. The district chairperson of Contralesa in Vhembe, Vho Thovhele Midiyavhathu Tshivhase, said the proposed property rates in villages were an insult to many rural communities. “How do you expect the poorest of the poor to pay for services that they never enjoy? Where do you expect them to get the money from?” said Tshivhase.

He added that the majority of their people in the rural areas are not working and have no other source of income and it will be very difficult for them to pay. He said some of the families in rural areas cannot even afford to provide food for their families and to pay for services they cannot even access is tantamount to an insult. He said it has become very confusing because many of the areas in the Thohoyandou area cannot be classified as urban as people do not have title deeds. “Those enjoying the services in urban areas should pay those rates and the municipality should just leave our poor subjects alone,” said Tshivhase. Thovhele Tshivhase also urged other traditional leaders to speed up the recruitment drive of members for Contralesa. “Our organization is not achieving its intended goals by the small number of Vho Thovhele who are involved in the activities of Contralesa. We need to be united together with our other traditional leaders and to work selflessly towards the improvement of our communities,” he said.

 A member of the national executive of Contralesa, Ms Mary Ravele, called on all with royal blood to join and swell the ranks of Contralesa. “Our organization needs you all. Let us join the relevant structures and strengthen the people’s organization so that service is brought closer to people,” she said.

News - Date: 05 September 2008

Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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