The new management of the Soutpansberg Ratepayers Association (SRPA) has big plans to kick-start their term of office.

At a meeting on Wednesday, the new chairman, Mr. Frans Prinsloo, and a number of his co-workers explained the way ahead. Their first order of business is to draw up a list of the most urgent matters that need to be addressed in terms of service delivery.

At the meeting, Prinsloo made it clear that the SRPA is a non-political organization, contrary to the impression that some people are trying to create

“We are not here to serve any political party. Our aim is to provide a service to all our members, regardless of their political affiliation. We have too much to do in the course of our normal, daily activities to worry about party politics. Our aim is transparent, goal-oriented service to the community as a whole in order to address the problems that the current town council has allowed to develop. We are not going to point fingers any more to accuse anyone; we are here to see to it that something is done about the situation in town. To that effect, anyone who wants to assist us in any way whatsoever is welcome to come forward and be part of the solution.”

At the time of going to press, the envisaged general meeting of interested parties who support the SRPA was still to take place on Wednesday evening. The delegation made it clear that they wanted to receive a mandate from the town’s residents on what exactly people want to happen. Measures are being put in place to exercise control over the money to be collected as rates and taxes when these are being withheld. Instead of paying the money to the Council, it will now be deposited in a trust account, which will be held by a local attorney. The funds will be administered by the attorney and not by the management of the SRPA. All decisions on how the money should be spent will have to be endorsed by a prescribed number of management members and sanctioned by the lawyer. Financial statements will be available for public scrutiny at the attorney’s offices and will be audited regularly. The management team will not be compensated for their time and efforts.

As mentioned before, the first order of business is to determine what the most urgent problems are that have to be addressed. According to the team, no one specific problem can be addressed as a whole.

“We cannot fix all the town’s streets at once. Neither can we simply upgrade the sewerage purification system or build a new reservoir to supply the town with water. We have to look at the most urgent problems and address them piecemeal, in order of priority. We will tackle the situation according to short-, medium and long-term goals. Once we have set ourselves these targets, we will consult experts in the various fields to help us come up with time frames, budgets, plans of action, and whatever else is necessary to address each problem.”

Another important issue is the proposed increased rates and taxes. The association feels that the way the whole process has been handled falls short of the prescriptions found in the relevant municipal acts governing the process. They feel that no proper consultation has taken place and that too many problems still exist with regard to the valuation roll, especially concerning the determination of the various values used for different properties.

The SRPA wishes to stress the following important matters pertaining to membership of the association and how it operates:

(1) Only registered members who have paid their membership fees will be allowed to withhold their taxes. (2) Any person who forms part of this action must ensure that his/her account with the municipality is up to date before any funds are withheld. No defaulters will be accepted. (3) Members will have to pay a small additional levy to cover administrative costs. (4) From time to time, members will be expected to do more than just belong to the association. They might be called upon to provide input of some form or another. (5) The association is not just a forum for presenting grievances. Members are expected to make a positive contribution to solving the problems facing the association.

Lastly, the SRPA wishes to stress that it sees the current situation as a crisis, with the chronic water interruptions, sewage spills, the abundance of potholes and all the other accompanying problems at the heart of it. Despite the actions envisaged by the association, it is prepared to take hands with the municipality in solving the problems, through negotiations, consultation, mutual agreements and whatever else may be necessary to establish a spirit of cooperation between the two bodies.