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By OBAKENG MAJE

Residents of Mahikeng are up in arms after the announcement of disposing of properties that are in the former Bophuthatswana areas outside the North West province.

According to information, the North West Housing Corporation CEO, Sello Mogodiri announced that they intend to auction movable and immovable assets such as properties located within municipalities like Tshwane, Mangaung, John Taolo Gaetsewe areas including farms.  

However, the announcement was not well-received as some of the residents in Mahikeng embarked on protests.

One of the community leaders, Thato Molosankwe said: “As the residents of Mahikeng, we saw it fit to take our grievances to the streets. We call on the South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa to come and hear our grievances because the North West Premier, Prof Job Mokgoro’s silence on the matter is deafening.

“We understand that the NWDC CEO, Sello Mogodiri is selling all properties of the province that were built under the former Bophuthatswana.”

Molosankwe further said they rather question the procedure applied because it ‘flaws’ the PFMA processes. He added that public participation must be allowed before any decision is taken.

“The worst part, Mogodiri is also selling farms. The government is busy with the land distribution process and the land must return to its rightful owners.

“Now, they are selling those farms to the highest bidders without any consultations. It is clear that those who are poverty-stricken would not benefit from these transactions,” he said.  

North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Mmoloki Cwaile said they would not continue with a process until all relevant processes such as public participation have unfolded.

“Some of the said properties include land and immovable properties around Winterveld, Mabopane, and Garankuwa have been invaded or illegally occupied.

“It is our view that Gauteng government should procure that land or properties from the NWDC and put it for good public interest,” Cwaile said.  

He further said the Gauteng government must also find a way to make those who occupy the residential houses of the NWHC outside of the province to be able to acquire them at market value and become rightful owners.   

He added that the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) advised that the mandate of the NWHC is to house the North West communities and seek to resolve the historical dilemma, where already most of the families grew in the said houses they are occupying in areas such as Pampierstad, Kuruman, Mabopane, Winterveld, Atamelang, Ganyesa, Thabanchu and many other areas.

Meanwhile, the North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Premier, Finance, Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs chairperson, Aaron Mocwana said they were shocked by the reports citing the intention of the entity to auction properties of NWHC in Gauteng and other provinces.

“The Portfolio Committee views this as an ‘act of fraud and theft of government assets at a grand scale’. The entity in the first place has failed to adhere to numerous request of the portfolio committee to declare locations of these properties.

“It is disturbing that all of a sudden there are hastened plans to auction the very same properties they failed to point out to the committee. The public pronouncement is nothing but a pyramid scheme designed to sidetrack accountability to the legislature and to conduct procurement processes through a media space,” he said. 

Mocwana further said these talks continue to disrespect the legislature and its processes. He said the portfolio committee is going to write to both Mokgoro and Cwaile to halt ‘this daylight heist of North West communities’ assets by a well-coordinated cartel masquerading as Gauteng business investors at the expense of the people of the North West’.

“The Portfolio Committee will leave no stone unturned to protect and defend the gains of the people of the North West from power mongers, daylight exploitation and collusion of government officials with business.

“Cwaile should ensure that he acts on this contravention of Powers, Privileges and Immunities Act of Parliament and ensure full accountability, fairness and transparency to the people of the North West,” said Mocwana.

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By CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Last week media around the world carried heart-rending images of a young boy adrift off the coast of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta. He was clinging to a makeshift buoy made of plastic bottles and desperately trying to make it to shore.

Over the years we have become accustomed to seeing images of African men, women and children crammed into boats and makeshift rafts trying to reach Europe. According to relief organisations more than 20,000 people have lost their lives trying to cross the Mediterranean since 2014.

As we observe Africa Day tomorrow, these tragic stories remind us of the huge task we have to build a better life for all the people of Africa.

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While we celebrate the progress we have made towards building a peaceful and prosperous continent, events in faraway North Africa show that we still have a long way to go.

Life is so difficult for millions of people on our continent and opportunities so few that they would risk their lives crossing the sea in pursuit of a better future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made people already suffering from the effects of conflict, under-development and poverty even more vulnerable.

African economies have been severely damaged and growth prospects are greatly diminished. Many of the continent’s developmental gains may be reversed as the fight against the pandemic takes precedence over other national priorities like poverty eradication.

Although low-income countries are especially vulnerable, middle income countries like our own have also been severely hit.

To support the continent’s economic recovery, African governments have been working through the African Union (AU) to mobilise significant financing to meet their developmental goals.

Last week, I joined several African leaders at a summit in Paris hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron on the financing of African economies in the post-COVID-19 era.

South Africa reiterated its support for a comprehensive and robust economic stimulus package for Africa to aid the recovery. But we said this should not be a substitute for official development aid.

We welcomed the steps taken by financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to support low- and middle-income countries, and called for further measures to support vulnerable countries. This would include an allocation by the IMF of what are known as Special Drawing Rights, where on the basis of membership quotas, around $33 billion will be released to increase the reserves of African countries. African leaders have however argued that an amount of $33 billion, while welcome, is not sufficient to meet the challenges that the continent faces. As the more developed economies are set to receive much of the $650 billion of Special Drawing Rights to be issued, we believe that 25% (which equates to $162.5 billion) should be made available to African countries.

Other measures would include increased concessional financing by international institutions and development agencies, and additional measures led by the G20 countries to provide African countries with debt relief.

In what was described as a New Deal for Africa, leaders and international organisations recognised that we share a collective responsibility to implement financial relief measures for African countries in distress.

The international experience with COVID-19 has been a lesson in the importance of collaboration between African countries and with our international partners. Our gains as a continent have been because we have both drawn on our own capabilities and worked with the international community.

As African countries, we want to help ourselves and not be told what is good for us. The principle of ‘nothing about us without us’ should be applied. It is important that we affirm our sovereignty as free and independent states capable of determining the destiny of our continent.

While countries have immediate financing needs, a sustainable economic recovery can only be assured if we increase levels of investment on the continent. Investing in African economies will contribute to making Africa the next champion of global growth.

The African Continental Free Trade Area will play a key role in the continental recovery. We also envisage a greater role for the continental network of African public development banks to mobilise funding to support key projects in health, education, infrastructure, green growth and other sectors.

African leaders acknowledge the centrality of good governance, public debt management, financial integrity and creating a more favourable climate for private sector investment in their economies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented levels of unity and cooperation between African countries. It has seen the continent strengthen its ties with the broader international community and global institutions.

As we observe Africa Day, let us deepen our efforts to achieve a sustainable and lasting social and economic recovery for the citizens of Africa. Ours must become a continent that is thriving and prosperous, not one from which its people are dying in an attempt to leave.

As a country, we are part of Africa and Africa is part of us. What happens in one part of our continent affects us all, and so we must work together to recover from this crisis, and to ensure that our continent grows and thrives.

I wish you all a happy Africa Day.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

• 

By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

A-26-YEAR-OLD man is set to appear at Kgomotso Magistrate’s Court for rape and murder of Tshimologo Lotshabeng (4) on Monday. It is alleged that the suspect kidnapped, raped and murdered Lobatsheng and dumped her tiny body in the near bushes afterward.

North West police spokesperson, Lit Col Amanda Funani said on 14 May 2021, the mother (32) of Tshimologo took her to her friend’s place, where she left her with six other children and went to a local tavern. Funani further said it is alleged that the mother came back drunk in the early hours of Saturday morning accompanied by two friends. 

“The mother who found the children asleep, apparently slept in her friend’s bedroom. She woke up in the morning and realised that her daughter is missing. As a result, she went to her residential place to look for the girl, but did not find her.

“A missing person inquiry was ultimately reported on 15 May 2021. Subsequently, the search was conducted in the area and Tshimologo’s clothes and her naked body were found in the bushes on 16 May 2021,” she said.

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Funani added that the preliminary investigation revealed that the young girl was allegedly raped and strangled to death. She said the suspect was arrested on Thursday at his residential area in Jan Kempdorp.

“The suspect allegedly waited for the mother to fall asleep, then kidnapped the child and took her to the nearby bushes where he raped and killed her. The suspect is expected to appear in the Kgomotso Magistrate’s Court on Monday,” Funani said.

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