By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI
15 October 2024- The Deputy Minister of the Department of Water and Sanitation, David Mahlobo said they will establish a structure consisting of all stakeholders to address issues over the use of the state-owned land, promote inclusive economic growth and advance the healthy ecosystem of the water resource at the Hartbeespoort Dam. This comes after a stakeholder engagement meeting led by Mahlobo at the department’s offices at the Dam on 14 October 2024.
He further said the structure will be led by him and the North West Premier, Lazarus Mokgosi or a designate will include business owners operating around the state-owned land, civil society organisations, community representatives, provincial and local government as well traditional leaders, and is expected to have its first sitting early next month.
Mahlobo added that the Hartbeespoort Dam has been a hub for business, tourism and socio-economic activities for locals for decades, but there has been on-going racial tension between the occupiers of the state-owned land, who are conducting business and the locals.
“Different representatives of various stakeholders came under one roof and had an opportunity to express their views on the on-going tensions at the dam. Eventually, there was a mutual agreement to establish a structure to be led by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation, which will expand on issues raised during the stakeholder engagement and pave the way for co-existence among different stakeholders with a purpose of resolving the issues and advancing economic growth.
“We condemn acts of violence that were inflicted on some of the business owners and their businesses and call on law enforcement agencies to ensure that all those responsible face the might of the law,” he said.
Mahlobo expressed his satisfaction at the deliberations and highlighted that he believes the structure that is being set will bring peace among the stakeholders. He said they have had a fruitful meeting with different views from people with different backgrounds.
“There was a subsequent agreement to establish a structure that will deal decisively with the issues raised during the deliberations. We are of the view that this dam, which has become a source of conflict, can become a beacon of hope to many by bringing prosperity.
“It can also be a reflection of our unified and diversified democratic country, which is non-racist and non-sexist. We also addressed an issue of lease agreements on the state-owned land at the dam, which has been a contentious issue among some of the business owners,’ said Mahlobo.
He said previously, some of the business owners had 99-year-old leases and have been in occupation of the land through many generations without any formal documents and authorisation from the state. Mahlobo said as a result, the department developed a lease policy, which was finalised in 2020.
“This was to address previous gaps and to also guide and provide a comprehensive framework for managing leases and has subsequently established a lease committee to assess and recommend lease applications for approvals to the delegated authority.
“Between 2020 and 2022, DWS has approved 4 lease agreements for recreational purposes at the dam for a duration between 5 and 9 years and 11 months.
“This year, the Department has issued Expressions of interest (EOI) to private or public entities that are interested to lease the state-owned land and to obtain access rights to state dams, and/or to enter into lease agreements with the department in terms of its lease policy,” he said.
Mahlobo said the purpose of the EOI is to provide equal opportunity for all potential applicants, both public and private and to address public concerns regarding the transparency, fairness, and competitiveness of the leasing process.
The Guardian 