Picture: A mud house destroyed by torrential rain/Generic
By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
7 April 2025- Some municipalities across the North West province were affected by the torrential rains. Even though no injuries or fatalities were reported, the impact of the floods includes discomfort.
The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi said most of the communities are residing in mud houses, while others reside within floodplains/ low lying areas (Khunotshwane and Matsatseng, near Slurry). Molapisi said most of the damages happened in disaster prone areas exacerbated by material used in construction of structures, especially informal settlements.
“In Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, the affected areas are in Mahikeng, Ramotshere Moiloa and Tswaing Local Municipalities. Some houses in Matsatseng, near Slurry, were waterlogged as well as Khunotswane in Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality.
“In Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District, the affected area was ward 1 in Migdol in Mamusa Local Municipality. The areas flooded due to the poor storm water drainage system. In Dr Kenneth Kaunda District, Klerksdorp was affected by the flooding,” he said.
Molapisi further said mostly low-lying bridges were severely affected and motorists were advised to use alternative routes. He added that future intervention required communities residing in flood plains/ low lying areas to be relocated to habitable land.
“Municipalities to improve storm water drainage systems. Bridges and culverts in low lying areas need to be upgraded. Community Awareness Campaign to be enhanced as for communities that reside in disaster prone areas.
“The Provincial and Municipal Disaster Management Centres continue to monitor the situation in order to mitigate and prevent major impacts of the heavy rainfall,” said Molapisi.
7 April 2025- The Northern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Bentley Vass cautioned the communities in low-lying areas of the riverbanks in the Northern Cape of possible overtopping following the opening of the 5th sluice gate of the Vaal Dam on 6 April 2025, by the Department of Water and Sanitation. Vass said due to the increased water releases by the five sluice gates, there might be a possible overflow at the riverbanks downstream and this will affect infrastructure built in lower-lying areas within the 100 metres.
He further discourages people from conducting rituals at the rivers and activities like baptisms, swimming and fishing and crossing the rivers by foot or with motor vehicles on submerged bridges. Vass added that, they have engaged all five District Disaster Management Centres across the province to submit situational reports to the Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC), so that should the need arise for immediate intervention and mobilisation of resources, they are ready at the PDMC to provide such support.
“The department through the Provincial Disaster Management Centre is on high alert for immediate response. The Department of Water and Sanitation is continuously monitoring the water levels in the Vaal River System,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Water and Sanitation spokesperson, Wisane Mavasa said due to the rapid increase of inflows into the Vaal Dam, a 5th sluice gate has been opened on Sunday to manage water levels that have increased overnight as a result of the ongoing rainfall in the Vaal River catchment.
Mavasa said this is 24-hours after the department opened the 4th sluice gate at the Vaal Dam.
“The water storage levels at the dam stood at 108% on Friday, but as of Sunday, the levels had risen to 109%. The outflows at the dam will increase from 550 cubic metres per second (mᵌ/s) to just under 700 mᵌ/s.
“The inflows into the dam have increased since this morning from 1000 m3/s to 1200 m3/s by midday.
Bloemhof Dam storage levels have also risen from yesterday’s 103% to 107% this morning and water releases will be staggered incrementally from the current 1000 mᵌ/s to 1 100 m³/s at 10am; 1 200 m³/s at 12h00; 1 300 m³/s at 14h00 and the last increase at 16h00 to 1 400 m3/s,” he said.
Mavasa further said the increased outflows from Vaal Dam are expected to reach the Vaal Barrage in about 6 hours and Bloemhof Dam in 3 to 4 days and will result in water levels rising in both the dam and the river, overtopping the riverbanks. He added that, due to increased water releases by the five sluice gates, there might be a possible overflowing at the riverbanks downstream and this will affect infrastructure built in lower lying areas within the 100-year floodline.
“People living within the high floodline of the Vaal River downstream of the Vaal Dam and the Bloemhof Dam should evacuate and move to a safe area, and remove valuable equipment, movable infrastructure and livestock.
At Grootdraai Dam located in Mpumalanga in the Upper Vaal River Catchment, upstream of the Vaal Dam, one sluice gate remains open to enable water releases. The Dam is currently sitting at 102%.
“The department is implementing these necessary controlled water releases at the dams as part of dam safety precautions to safeguard the infrastructure. DWS is continuously monitoring the water levels in the Vaal River System,” said Mavasa.
He said through various platforms, the department continuously shares hydrology reports and provides regular updates regarding the water levels in the dams, with recommendations in order to provide early warnings in case of flooding. taungdailynews@gmail.com
7 April 2025- The newly appointed North West Housing Corporation (NWHC) interim board, held a meet-and-greet session with management and staff at the NWHC offices in Mahikeng, following their appointment by the North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi.
The NWHC CEO, Sello Mogodiri said the engagement focused on fostering collaboration and aligning strategic priorities. Mogodiri said the programme included a formal induction session, where Molapisi addressed the board and management.
“He emphasised the need to prioritise Smart and Mega City projects, highlighting the Lokaleng/Mahikeng Student City
project as an urgent priority due to growing public interest and traditional leadership concerns. Molapisi also called for the swift review of the NWHC Act and
urged strong cooperation between the board and executive management.
“The board received a presentation on the entity’s operational performance, finances and governance framework. Key areas discussed included the 2024/25
Quarterly Performance Reports, Strategic and Annual Performance Plans, Audit Outcomes, and the Revenue Enhancement Strategy,” he said.
Mogodiri further said the Chairperson of interim board, Dr Manketsi Tlhape, welcomed the opportunity to serve and committed to strengthening governance, accountability, and the Corporation’s role in delivering sustainable human settlements across the province. He added that they reaffirmed management’s commitment to working closely with the board.
“We will ensure that you receive all the necessary information and that our operations remain transparent. I believe your combined experience will bring valuable insight and wisdom to help us improve service delivery.
“The session concluded with a joint commitment to uphold good governance, transparency, and effective service delivery in line with the developmental goals
of the North West Provincial Government,” said Mogodiri.
Picture: The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi
By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
11 February 2025- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi said they are bringing detailed key interventions aimed at improving the state of municipalities in general and enhancing service delivery in particular. Molapisi said they had a productive service delivery interventions workshop with the embattled Ditsobotla Local Municipality.
He further said there are challenges at the municipality and admitted that, it made headlines more than any other municipality in the province. Molapisi said the role of his department is succinctly as explained on Section 40 of Chapter 3 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
“The three spheres of government (national, provincial, and local sphere) are distinctive, interdependent, and interrelated. Section 41 explains principles of co-operative government and intergovernmental relations and the Constitution directs all spheres of government to exercise their powers and perform their functions in a manner that does not encroach on the geographical, functional, or institutional integrity of another sphere.
“The reason I am explaining this is for you members of the media to understand that local government is another sphere of government, governed by legislation, and sometimes, as either provincial or national government, we cannot impose some of the decisions on councils,” he said.
Molapisi said, however, they have an obligation in terms of Section 154 of the Constitution to support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to manage their affairs, to exercise their powers, and to perform their functions. He said out of 22 municipalities, at least 8 are currently under mandatory intervention in terms of Section 139 (5) (a) and (c) of the Constitution read together with Section 139 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) due to poor financial management.
“The Provincial Treasury has appointed Provincial Executive Representatives for three years. These municipalities are Ditsobotla, Kgetlengrivier, Madibeng, Ramotshere Moiloa, Maquassi Hills, Tswaing, Naledi Local Municipalities and the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality.
“Out of 22 municipalities (both local and district municipalities), only Bojanala Platinum District, Lekwa Teemane, Mamusa, and Tswaing do not have substantive Municipal Managers,” said Molapisi.
He said the department has however, seconded acting Municipal Managers at Kagisano Molopo, Mamusa, Tswaing Local Municipalities and Bojanala District Municipality as per the request of the respective councils. Molapisi said by law, the council can resolve to request the MEC of Local Government to second an acting Municipal Manager.
“We are implementing the Local Government Turnaround Strategy that focuses on four areas such as Leadership, Governance, and Administration, Financial Management, Service delivery and Fund Mobilization and Leveraging.
“As part of the Local Government Turn Around Strategy, we have developed an early warning system to improve service delivery in the form of a dashboard to monitor municipal performance and reporting,” he said.
Molapisi said they have also completed the skills audit for municipalities and the sole purpose was to assess the current competencies and capabilities of the municipal workforce across various units and to identify the skills gap.
“Through the audit, municipalities were able to identify the current skills of their employees and the skills gap as it revealed that in some municipalities, employees in lower-level positions are overqualified, while managers in some municipalities do not possess the necessary qualifications and competencies relevant to their positions.
“The audit report recommended that municipalities must develop targeted education and training programs or recruitment strategies to ensure the entire workforce has the necessary capabilities to undertake their duties and impact positively in the provision of services,” he said.
Molapisi said municipalities such as Bojanala, have registered an improvement for 2023/2024 and 2022/2023 audit outcomes. He said Bojanala Platinum District Municipality moved from qualified to unqualified, Madibeng from adverse to qualified, and Naledi from adverse to qualified audit opinion.
“Two districts and one local municipality, namely Bojanala Platinum, Dr Kenneth Kaunda, and Moretele Local Municipality, received unqualified audit opinions. Twelve local and one district municipalities received qualified audit opinions, and they are Kgetlengrivier, Madibeng, Moses Kotane, Rustenburg, Matlosana, JB Marks, Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Greater Taung, Naledi, Ngaka Modiri Molema, Mahikeng, Ramotshere Moiloa, and Tswaing.
“Maquassi Hills and Mamusa received adverse audit opinions whilst Ditsobotla, Ratlou, and Lekwa Teemane received disclaimer audit opinions. Ten municipalities, namely, Maquassi Hills, City of Matlosana, Madibeng, Kgetlengrivier, Ditsobotla, Lekwa Teemane, Naledi, Tswaing, Mamusa, and Ramotshere Moiloa, were assisted with the application to National Treasury to participate on the programme of Municipal Debt Relief in line with MFMA Circular 123 and 124,” said Molapisi.
He said the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) expenditure as of the end of December 2024 was 41% of the total allocation of R2,1 billion. Molapisi said six municipalities are performing beyond average and have passed the 60% mark of their allocation in terms of expenditure for the end of December 2024:
Picture: Residents in Lichtenburg embark on protest over lack of electricity/Facebook
By OBAKENG MAJE
9 January 2025- The North West Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs has urged the residents of Lichtenburg and local areas to remain calm as the North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi and the Ditsobotla Local Municipality, have promised to restore electricity which has been cut-off for over three consecutive weeks during the festive period.
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, chaired by Kgalalelo Makgokgowa said this follows commitments made by Mokgosi together with the North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi and the municipality who brought the two service providers on site to restore electricity by installing relevant electrical equipment within the municipal electricity grid.
Makgokgowa said communities should be patient with the provincial government and the municipality on resolving their electricity challenges.
“We request our people to wait for relevant processes to unfold as we believe that power will be restored soon as alluded by the provincial government.
“We received a report that electricity has been restored in certain parts of the municipality which shows a positive response to the challenges of the community at large. We also plead with the communities to respect and give the appointed service providers time and space to install the equipment so as to restore the electricity in all areas of Ditsobotla,” she said.
Makgokgowa further said they hope that there would not be any acts of violence including protests.
Picture: The embattled Phokwane Local Municipality
By STAFF REPORTER
14 October 2024- The Democratic Alliance (DA) said it has requested the Northern Cape MEC of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Bentley Vass, to help resolve Phokwane Local Municipality’s decade long rates stalemate that continues to be extremely disadvantageous to farmers and the municipality alike.
The DA councillor in Phokwane Local Municipality, Annette van Wyk said since 2013, the municipality failed to rectify inflated property valuations and erroneous municipal accounts in relation to 36 000 hectares of farmland and 362 farmers in the area. Van Wyk said farmers are desperate to settle the outstanding debt, ranging from between R15 million to R90 million, but refuse to pay until the accounts are rectified.
“In November 2023, the mayor of Phokwane Local Municipality, conceded to the National Portfolio Committee on COGTA that there have been inaccuracies in the municipality’s billing system since 2013.
“He also claimed that the municipality’s revenue manager was working on resolving the issue. To date the situation remains unchanged. Phokwane is now demanding payment from farmers,” she said.
Van Wyk further said this is despite multiple attempts by the DA to also get the accounts corrected and finalized, through liaison with a string of former managers. She added that efforts have been particularly hampered by instability in the institution, which has gone through five Municipal Managers and three Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in the last four years.
“The Union is the biggest contributor in terms of Phokwane’s property rates. Effectively, Phokwane’s debt collection remains below the accepted norm, having a ripple effect on the municipality’s ability to repay its long list of creditors.
“After 10 years of accounts dysfunction, Phokwane is also rated as one of the most dysfunctional municipalities in the country. Unresolved accounts are not only bankrupting Phokwane, but also delaying the transfer of properties onto the names of current property owners,” said van Wyk.
She said the situation must not be allowed to fester and COGHSTA must step in to help rectify the accounts. Van Wyk said they hope that communication between COGHSTA spokesperson, Gizella Opperman and Vass’s office last week, will finally be the beginning of the end of Phokwane’s accounting catastrophe.
“To place additional pressure on the municipality and COGHSTA, Opperman has sent an update to the national COGTA parliamentary committee,” she said.
Picture: North West MEC COGHSTA, Oageng Molapisi/Supplied
By OBAKENG MAJE
7 October 2024- The North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi said the Presidential District Development Model (PDDM) programme, remains key in delivering services to the province.
Molapisi who delivered keynote address during his departmental strategic planning session in Rustenburg recently said, coordination of services among departments and other spheres of government is critical and most services require more integration from the beginning until the end.
He further said provision of services such as water, sewer, houses and many other, which remain a serious challenge to communities are priorities. Molapisi added that the DDM is the most viable tool at their disposal to address some of the challenges that they deemed as shortcomings within human settlement.
“We must work closely with provincial government departments, districts and local municipalities, to address issues such as poor maintenance of infrastructure and inadequate bulk, poor implementation and limited community engagements and population growth, which leads to the mushrooming of informal settlements.
“However, working together will lead to increase in us fulfilling our mandate of providing habitable human settlements for the people of the North West. I would like to acknowledge my departmental performance during the 6th administration and I remain hopeful that we will emerge victorious under this capable team,” he said.
According to Molapisi, assessing the work done in the previous five years, he is convinced that there is determination from all employees within his department. He said this will assist them to realise the vision and mission of his department.
“The current conjecture (GNU), places the department at the epicentre of ensuring that we lead to improved living conditions through the provision of integrated sustainable human settlement in the province.
“We are therefore all required to place our skills and expertise to realise this objective. Some areas require our immediate intervention. However, I am disappointed about the state of infrastructure in the province, especially blocked projects,” said Molapisi.
He said the recent report by the visiting National Council of Province (NCOP), should be corrected before November 2024. Molapisi said the committee expressed disappointment at incomplete projects and further called on the department to remedy the situation and deliver habitable homes to deserving beneficiaries.
“We also focused on other key departmental service delivery programmes such as the progress recorded in areas like Deelpan village, which was hit by two devastating floods in the past two years.
“We looked into developments in Moretele and the upcoming ministerial visit to the province in the next two weeks. I am happy that managers remained confident that the department will achieve its mandate, despite cut in budget.
Picture: Community members attending community engagement/Suppliee
By BAKANG MOKOTO
29 August 2024- The Northern Cape MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Transport, Safety and Liaison, MEC Bentley Vass, together with the acting Northern Cape Police Commissioner, Major General Luntu Ngubelanga, hosted a community engagement at the Kagung Community Hall in Mothibistad on 28 August 2024.
The engagement was attended by relevant heads and representatives of entities, including Commissioner, Subashni Moodley, the Regional Commissioner for Correctional Services in the Free State and Northern Cape, SAPS District Commissioners and Provincial Heads, Advocate Mpho Tau from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), and the chairperson of District Community Policing Forum, Tebogo Kedithibetse.
Vass said the focus of the engagement was to encourage stronger relationships between the community and law enforcement in order to address challenges faced by the police and the community alike. He further said this platform created an opportunity to regain the trust of the community in the police and the modelling of a dialogue between SAPS and relevant government departments.
“We need to promote the fostering of solidarity within the community to instil an overall sense of security. The community structures play a vital role and we encourage communities to join community structures and neighbourhood watch sectors.
“Crime against children remains a priority and swift action must be taken. A zero tolerance approach must be followed towards Gender-Based Violence (GBV) related offences. The community members were afforded the opportunity to voice concerns and share information with the panel of guests, who provided responses accordingly,” added Vass.
Ngubelanga furnished remarks and emphasized the importance of sound partnerships. He encouraged the community to reclaim their streets and not be afraid of criminals.
“We need to highlight the danger of substance and alcohol abuse as they are the generators of crime. So, we urge the community to utilise the services offered by the SAPS Inspectorate component, when lodging complaints relating to services delivered by SAPS.
Meanwhile, Kedithibese said: “The community engagements will continue to be conducted throughout the district to address concerns and strengthen partnerships.”
Picture: One of the illegal initiation schools burned down as part of its shut down/Supplied
By STAFF REPORTER
More than 100 initiates were rescued from 17 initiation schools across the province. According to the North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Oageng Molapisi, his department, through the Provincial Initiation Coordinating Committee (PICC) and in collaboration with South African Police Service (SAPS), has successfully closed down these initiation schools.
“The shutting down of the schools follows the extensive oversight visits conducted by the PICC across the province, to clamp down on illegal initiation schools since the beginning of the 2024 winter initiation season in line with Section 15 of the Customary Initiation Act No 2 of 2021 (CIA).
“The committee was monitoring compliance in terms of Sections 20, 21, 23 and 24 of the CIA with, verifying the qualifications and credentials of initiation school practitioners i.e. principals, care-takers and traditional surgeons. They also inspected the facilities and resources to ensure they meet minimum standards as per Section 30 of the CIA,” he said.
Molapisi further said these operations have ensured the safety and health of numerous young initiates whom some were found to be in a dire condition. He added that the PICC has opened cases at various police stations and the school principals were arrested.
Meanwhile, the Chairperson of PICC, Kgosi Godfrey Ramosetlho Gasebone, has expressed deepest concern over the non-compliance of the initiation school principals, which resulted in an increase of illegal schools and deaths of 2 initiates. Gasebone said the proliferation of illegal initiations is driven by money and greed by individuals who want to extort money from the parents of initiates.
“During our capacity building session which occurred in April 2024, the PICC has done its best to engage the school principals across the province about the new customary initiation law and to follow before establishing the initiations school. This was done in an effort to prevent the emergence of illegal initiation schools.
“We are happy that the school principals have been arrested and they will face the full might of the law. We will continue to work with the police to clamp down on these illegal acts and until everyone follows the dictates of the CIA,” he said.
Gasebone also condemned the recent attack of the PICC Deputy Chairperson Andries Stemmer’s son, an act of intimidation by those running illegal initiation schools. He said this incident occurred following a community tip-off about illegal initiation schools in Lichtenburg and Coligny, where 13 initiates were found.
“Other initiates were rescued from illegal schools Moretele, Motla, Makapanstad, Kromkuil, Klipgat, Kgabalatsane, Hebron, Letlhabile, Tigane, Goedgevonden, Mahikeng, Mareetsane, Coligny, Boikhutso, Makouspan and Madibogo, which were shut down. The rescued initiates were taken to neighbouring clinics and hospitals for further check-ups and assistance.
“No initiation school will exist without following the prescripts of the CIA, which amongst other included medical check-ups of initiates and acquiring consent from parents of initiates. What is happening is totally unacceptable. It is illegal and shows no regard for life,” said Gasebone.
He said they appeal to communities to help the department and PICC to stop these criminals, who abduct schoolboys and initiate them without the knowledge and consent of their parents. Gasebone said two deaths would have been avoidable.
North West MEC for Cooperative Governance, Human Settlement and Traditional Affairs (COGHSTA), Nono Maloyi has been appointed as interim North West Premier. This is due to the unavailability of North West Premier, Bushy Maape, who will be out of the country from 21 January until 31 January 2024, following advice and referral by his doctor to seek further medical treatment in Thailand.
During Maape’s absence, Maloyi will act as Premier. He has since been sworn in by the North West High Court Judge President, Ronald Hendricks.
Maape spokesperson, Sello Tatai said: “the Office of the Premier wishes to confirm that a formal notification of Maape’s travel has been sent to both the President and the Speaker of the North West Provincial Legislature.”
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