MAKHADO - The press release made by Mr Peter Magwala, the Municipality’s Director: Corporate Services, in the Zoutpansberger of September 16 on page three is an embarrassment, not only to the Makhado Municipality, but to all the residents within the Vhembe Municipality District.

This was the view of the Chairperson’s Association (CA) who reacted to the municipal press release this week and in particular to the phrase “forces of darkness”, referring to those who oppose the name change.

The CA said that it seems from this press release that Mr Magwala is stating by implication that the CA, consisting of 17 church denominations and 51 prominent organizations, representing 87 500 members of the Indian, Buysdorp, Afrikaans, English, Venda and Shangaan communities and cultural groups, to be “forces of darkness” because they dared to challenge the politicians and authorities in a Court of Law.

“It seems as if all persons challenging the authorities in a Court of Law for whatsoever reason may be from the forces of darkness,” reads the statement.

The CA poses the question whether some of the members of the municipality possibly felt threatened by the insistence on good governance and total disclosure and by the anti-corruption campaign that the Chairperson’s Association is currently embarking on. The Chairperson’s Association wishes to state clearly that this is only the start of insistence on good governance and definitely not the end.

The CA cited the fact that the municipality is currently under administration.It also cited statistics supplied by the researchers of the Makhado Municipality that only about 24% of all the people of this region are economical active, about 30% of the people are dependent on grants and the other people do not have jobs.

“Therefore, 76% of the people in this region are either directly and/or indirectly dependent on grants or do not have any source of income. One wonders if it is the idea of Mr Peter Magwala that these people, who are dependent on social grants or unemployed, should become the slaves of the politicians, since persons without a source of income do not have the energy or the resources to enforce their constitutional rights and human rights in a court of law, leaving them at the total mercy and abuse of politicians and they will also be called the ‘forces of darkness’. The question arises whether it can ever be wrong for the public to challenge abuses against themselves in a Court of Law,” stated the CA.

The view of the Chairperson’s Association is that good governance has to be followed in a transparent form, with full disclosure to the public. The public should understand the actions of the corporate citizens which should always be subject to the rule of law. In the end, the ordinary citizens are those who foot the bill.

It is the advice of the Chairperson’s Association that officials who cannot make a proper press release should be sent on a course in respect of good governance as well as a course in respect of the King’s Report II, “so that they will understand what good governance is all about and in order for them to stop accusing the people who insist on good governance of being ‘forces of darkness.’”

The CA also referred to the speech of Mr Tito Mboweni, the governor of the Reserve Bank, at the FEDUSA Congress, where he complained about the standard of good governance in general in the country. The Chairperson’s Association appealed to all people to insist that their human and constitutional rights be maintained and respected and not to be abused by any politicians or officials who may have a self-centred, fat-cat approach in order to ensure only their own interests.

“The name change court case is not about fighting against the Mphephus / Ramabulanas or the Venda people and this has been stated on numerous occasions. It is therefore of vital importance that we should understand that this whole court case is all about the constitutional and human rights of the citizens of this region and not at all about a personal fight against a previous leader,” the CA said.