Members of the community of the Greater Giyani Municipality staged a march from Giyani Stadium to the Mopani District Municipality's offices last Thursday (8/11) and presented a memorandum of grievances to the district municipality.

Among the grievances, residents claimed there was a “deliberately downgrading of Giyani by moving some offices from their area to Tzaneen.”

Presenting a memorandum under the banner of the Greater Giyani People’s Voice, Mr Tsietsi Nkondo said they had watched with dismay when their area was being treated unfairly. Complaints against the district as cited in the memorandum was that there were “actions from the district municipality that impacted on the self-worth, dignity, welfare and the economic growth of the Greater Giyani community.”

They complained that there were attempts to shrink the Greater Giyani Municipality, following new demarcation proposals released on February 12 by the Municipal Demarcation Board, which  transfers some villages from Greater Giyani to Greater Tzaneen. They also claimed that the Mopani district was relocating some offices from Greater Giyani to Tzaneen in order to make sure that Giyani does not develop.

Nkondo said there was a feeling in Giyani that appointments in the district were not transparent. “There is also unfairness and lack of transparency in the awarding of tenders, resulting in the majority of tenders excluding people from Giyani,” said Nkondo. He added that the naming and changing of names of structures and sites were done without consulting the community.

The secretary of the committee, Mr Johannes Mabunda, said the people of Giyani, including traditional leaders, were supportive of the present government and its leadership. “We are dismayed by the attitude of some leaders in our district who undermine the people of Giyani and this is what made us decide to march,” said Mabunda.

In the memorandum, they say the district must meet them within 14 days to resolve the issue.