By BAKANG MOKOTO

The residents of Lokgabeng village, near Taung said they are happy after having a consultative engagement with the executive mayor of Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality, Motseokae Maje.

One of the community leaders, Mothohela Motshabi said, the meeting to discuss water challenges went well after three months of difficulties. He said, atleast they have found a lasting solution.

“The residents are happy because the mayor ensured that there will be water provision in the area from now on going forward. He also appointed experts to come and do assessment on our boreholes.

“The jojo tanks were also increased to 11 and we have water in our area. So, we want to applaud the mayor for resolving our challenges. Life has never been easy as most of the community members are unemployed and cannot afford to buy water sold to them in the village,” said Motshabi.

Motshabi said it was bad to see residents being forced to travel a long distance to fetch water. He said, others were forced to use donkey carts to fetch water for household usage, while others had to pay an exorbitant amount of money to buy water.

It is suspected that decades of chronic underfunding of water infrastructure are putting many villages at worse risk. Other residents urged the municipality to address the investment gap in water and sanitation and refrain from perceiving these services mainly as social issues rather than economic ones.

Last week, the residents embarked on protests and barricaded R57 road that links Taung and Reivilo with burning tyres and shrubs.

Meanwhile, the Member of Mayoral Committee (MMC), who is responsible for Infrastructure at Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality, Pico Seepamere said: “We have a challenge with a borehole that was vandalised after the cable was stolen. So, we are struggling to find the same model of stolen cable.

“However, what we have done today is to re-energise another pumping machinery that can pump up to 1.2 litres per second. The one that is broken was able to pump 1.6 litres per second.”

Seepamere said the borehole in place can pump water for ten hours, then take a two hours interval. He added that, when the machinery reaches its highest level, it will be able to supply water to all residents of Lokgabeng.

“As the municipality, we are working on a permanent solution. However, to redeem the situation, we have also provided the residents with jojo tanks.

“We will also have a consultative engagement with residents on Monday, where all stakeholders will be present. I believe that the municipality would procure a needed engine if the needs arise so that our people could get access to clean and drinkable water,” he said.

Meanwhile, the R580 million Taung /Naledi Bulk Water Supply Project launched by the late Minister for Water and Environmental Affairs, Edna Molewa back in 2012 is still incomplete. The project was expected to augment the bulk water supply scheme and bring relief to thousands of villagers who had to travel long distances to draw water.

taungdailynews@gmail.com

By REGINALD KANYANE

The residents of Taung embarked on a peaceful march and barricaded the N18 road on Monday. They handed over their memorandum of demand to the North West Premier, Bushy Maape’s office. 

The anticipated march was led by Re Aga Taung Civic Organisation chairperson, Modisaotsile Disco Lebitse. According to Lebitse, there is a lot of malfeasance and corruption happening in Taung and that hampers developments.

“There is abuse of public money by the Greater Taung Local Municipality (GTLM). The municipality purchased two BMW vehicles for the mayor, Tumisang Gaoraelwe and municipal speaker, Grace Moipolai.

“Again, there is a regular breakdown of water systems, but we want to reclaim our Taung Dam that was sold to a private entity without community concerns. There is also nepotism and cadre deployment that exist within the municipality and sectoral departments,” he said.

Lebitse said they demand the cancellation of traffic officers’ learnership because the whole process was flawed. He further said, they demand the government entities to insource security guards.

“The municipality should also cancel the property rates in Ext 6. We demand that the municipality pave streets and all unoccupied RDP houses be occupied. We also want to reclaim our beloved Taung Cultural Calabash and demand that local artists be prioritised.

“We demand the completion of Taung Ext 7 water project and atleast municipality pave streets there. There are incomplete stormwater projects in Mase and Matlhako 1 villages that need to be completed too,” said Lebitse.

He added that, more libraries are needed across Taung and called for proper maintenance of Pudimoe library. Lebitse said, they demand cleaning projects in Taung CBD and parks because this has a negative impact on the environment.

“We also call for the removal of all illegal foreigners in Taung and urge the government to build a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts in Taung. There are challenges on various road projects across Taung too.

“So, we demand that the D201 road project from Mokassa to Pampierstad not be abandoned in the process, like what happened to the D221 road project in Molelema village. We urge the government to prioritise the AZ502 road in Mogopela, including the internal road in Myra,” he said.

Lebitse also demanded the return of Taung Skull with an amount of R86 billion. He said the skull was taken away 98 years ago, so that money will contribute positively to building the Taung museum and creating jobs in the tourism sector.

“We need an update on incomplete construction projects such as Sekhing Community Healthcare Centre, Pudimoe Old Age Home, Manthe Indoor Sports Complex, Pudimoe Sports Ground, and Manthe Community Hall,” said Lebitse.

Meanwhile, the Community Liaison Officer (CLO), Tshepo Leoko, who received the memorandum on behalf of Maape said: “I must confirm that we came here to listen to the grievances of the community. They did send the request two weeks back, so it is necessary for us to be here to listen to their frustrations.

“We have received their memorandum and will ensure that their demands are met. One of the things they have raised is an issue of water. We understand that North West is a water scarce province and that has received the attention of municipalities.”   

taungdailynews@gmail.com