28 May 08

By Sipho None

MOGALE CITY and its law enforcement agencies were working to prevent attacks on foreign nationals on the West Rand, while the municipality was working closely with the various housing departments to deliver houses.

This was the word of Executive Mayor Koketso Calvin Seerane, who was speaking to residents at the Azaadville Community Hall during the municipality’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP) road shows. The essence of the IDP road shows is to report to residents on the municipality’s achievements, and to discuss its future plans.

Referring to the national democratic revolution, Seerane said it aimed “to address the plight of the poor”.

“The national democratic revolution continues to be what we in the progressive movement pursue. At the centre of the pursuit of the [revolution] is the quest to address the plight of the poor in particular.

“So I just want to assure you that we have not [morphed] into an animal that has forsaken the poor. The strategic vision of our movement remains the improvement of the lot of the poor people of the country.”

“It is a pity that the criminal element found a way to manipulate the xenophobic sentiment that exists in our community and is running with it. [This] is clear to everyone who has following the event of the attacks.

“[President Mbeki] was on television saying that we need to investigate and establish who is behind this spate of attacks. Clearly I think this is much bigger than what you and I might think.”

There was a responsibility on all communities to ensure that the attacks did not cross over to the West Rand. “I got wind of an impending attack on foreign nationals to be launched from Kagiso Hostel and I immediately contacted the police,” the mayor said.

“Because the way to deal with it is to nip it in the bud and … the best way to deal with it is to address it before it even starts.”

“The housing waiting list, I’m told, stands at 28 000 and counting because of immigration and all sorts of other things. And something that we say all the time which I do not like to say, is that housing delivery is the responsibility of the provincial government.

“We took the decision on the Kagiso-Azaadville development to give a sizeable portion of our land to the province for it to [build houses] just across the road. That, in my opinion, also shows our commitment to housing delivery.”

Municipal officials were concerned about housing delivery, which was by far the biggest challenge in the area. He said the municipality would work closely with the provincial housing department and a variety of other stakeholders, such as banks, to find a way to deliver houses.