MUSINA – Several hundreds of residents of Musina, Nancefield, Harper and Campbell took part in a protest march for service delivery last Friday.

A memorandum containing a list of grievances were handed over to a representative of the Musina Municipal Council at the Musina Municipal offices, where the march ended. Neither the mayor nor the municipal manager was available to receive the memorandum. The memorandum demands amongst others that senior municipal officials should conduct themselves as officials and not as agents for political parties and also demanded that municipal officials should start observing working hours and to adhere to the principles of the Batho Pele campaign.

The peaceful demonstration started at the community hall in Nancefield and proceeded through the middle of Musina's central business district to the municipal offices.

The organisers of the march – the DA, expressed satisfaction with the huge number of residents who participated in the march. The leader of the DA in Musina, Cllr Konrad Stoop, thanked members of the SAPS and officials of the traffic department for their unbiased and professional conduct during the march.

The chairperson of the local management committee in Musina, Mr Pondo Mulaudzi, handed the memorandum to councillor T R Nemutanzhela and expressed his concern that the mayor and the municipal manager were absent during the occasion. He said their absence cast doubt about their commitment towards service delivery and their ability to listen to problems of the people.

Demonstrators in the march displayed posters with slogans such as "Stop self-enrichment. Alleviate poverty and create jobs", "We demand functional Health services", "Away with empty promises", "Away with political appointments" and "We demand houses for the poor."

The Memorandum, which was handed over, contains various demands. Immediate action is demanded to remove illegal occupants from RDP houses and to dismiss officials implicated in irregularities with the rental of RDP houses. An investigation is also demanded into allegations about corrupt employment practices and political appointments in the municipality.

The memorandum also demanded that the municipality, as a sphere of government, comply with all national and provincial government legislation. It pertinently demanded to know whether the municipal financial statements of the Musina Municipality have been submitted to the Auditor-General on time. "If yes, when? If not, why?", the memorandum asked.

The high crime rate in Musina is also addressed. In the memorandum the municipality is requested to closely liase with the SAPS to combat crime and to bring down the unacceptable high crime rate.

Council was requested to respond to residents' demands contained in the memorandum within 20 working days