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MEC visits Mogale’s rural areas
14 July 2009 By Keotshepile wa Mogotsi THE challenges faced by Mogale City’s rural areas were explored when Executive Mayor Koketso Calvin Seerane and the Gauteng agriculture and rural development MEC, Nandi Mayathula-Khoza, went walkabout through the countryside. The visit was sparked by a need to familiarise Mayathula-Khoza, who was appointed in June, with the challenges faced by Mogale City in its rural areas. Wearing maroon pants and top, Mayathula-Khoza first stopped at Tarlton Vlakplas Plot 5, known to locals as Tshamahansi. She palpably found the area squalid. About2 000 people live in Tshamahansi, which is in dire need of basic services, including proper sanitation, electricity, clean water and proper housing. Speaking to the MEC, the rural development manager in the City’s department of economic services, Shimi Phate, said: “This is the capital of most of the informal settlements in the rural areas of Mogale City; however, the council is looking for a suitable land to relocate the residents.” Stopping at Naledi Setlhodi’s ramshackle two-roomed house shook the politicians when they saw the appalling conditions in which her four children had to live. They commented on the shoddy building work of the structure, which had neither windows nor any form of ventilation. This was a health hazard for the occupants. Single and unemployed, Setlhodi is forced by circumstance to live with her children in this rickety dwelling, engulfed by noxious smoke emanating from the paraffin stove. Seerane, who is known for his passion for rural development, introduced Mayathula-Khoza to Setlhodi and told her of government programmes and that the services that would come. “The government follows programmes that are set up to bring services closer to our people and we are sure that Go tla siama mme (things will be alright),” said a touched Seerane.Need for land
One of the challenges was acquiring more land from private land owners to build proper houses for the rural residents.
Seerane said the walkabout was important as it would expose the MEC and her department to the reality of underdevelopment in rural areas. “We hope that this will bring a lot of support and advocacy from the MEC’s Office on other rural development initiatives of the municipality.
“The collaboration with the MEC’s Office and the department will bring about broader development of the agricultural sector in Mogale City, including issues of food security; the realisation of the agriculture hub in Mogale City, especially around Tarlton; and support and advocacy on other rural development initiatives in the municipality, in particular establishing of rural settlements to provide security of tenure for the rural residents,” said Seerane.
Mayathula-Khoza noted the challenges faced by the rural areas; she did not make a formal speech but spoke about employment rates, agricultural opportunities and housing in the areas visited.
She also encouraged the politicians that the time to start engaging was now. “This is the time for us to start engaging on all the challenges that we have noted with regard to agriculture and rural development in Mogale City’s rural areas.”
At all times during the visit, she was flanked by Seerane; the chief director of agriculture, Letebele Sebitloane; the head in the MEC’s Office, Thulane Malatsi; and the deputy director-general in the department, John Nesidoni.
Mpandlane
The visitors also stopped at Doornbosch in Hekpoort, in an area known as Mpandlane, where about 50 families live. They are employed on nearby farms and in government projects that include the installation of pipelines in the area. However, the lack of basic services remains a challenge, and residents resort to using a stream for drinking water when a water tank is not supplied.
After a dejecting experience, the visitors drove to a nearby area, populated by incomplete houses, built in a form of umbrella structures. Officials spoke about ways to complete the houses and boost agricultural activities.
From there, the tour headed to Muldersdrift, where the community is largely composed of laid off farm workers. They established the Muldersdrift Home Trust Foundation to buy their own land where they can set up a mixed-use settlement. Mayathula-Khoza visited Ethembalethu, meaning “our hope”, where she was briefed on the many obstacles facing the trust, including white farmers’ refusal to support the project.
Mogale City and the Gauteng department of agriculture and rural development spoke about service delivery issues and pledged to resolve problems in these rural areas.
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 Rural development came under the spotlight
The walk-about showed up the need to speed up services in rural areas
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