Some residents who attended the Presidential Imbizo in Ekurhuleni on Friday were filled with rage after they were not given an opportunity to raise concerns with government officials.
The situation in the marquee at Tsakane Stadium escalated, prompting ministers, including Mineral Resources boss Gwede Mantashe, to intervene in an attempt to maintain order.
President Cyril Ramaphosa then addressed the crowd, calling for calm and explaining that only 50 people had been scheduled to speak.
He assured attendees that all concerns had been duly noted for consideration.
Drug use tops list of concerns
The residents raised concerns over illegal businesses, neglected residential areas, and the high rate of drug use in their communities.
According to Songo Mahlangu, extension 12 has been in place since 1992, but they still lack suitable road infrastructure.
Mahlangu said there were only four tarred roads in the township extension.
“When other extensions are being fixed, we are always the forgotten ones. We plead that we get proper roads,” said Mahlangu.
“There is also an open space where people dump stolen cars. It now becomes our job to always call the police for them to get the cars before they get stripped.”
The majority voiced concerns about the atypical housing arrangements, in which three or more families share a single yard and toilet.
Busisiwe Mashele, the Tshwaranang ECD secretary from Thembisa, informed Ramaphosa that preschools in informal settlements were suffering as a result of townships’ disregard for early childhood education.
Crime hotspots in Gauteng
She expressed concern about the government giving preference to children from affluent families, granting them access to superior education from an early age.
Mashele said that the health and social development departments were not responding to their requests for financing.
Speaking to the locals, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu stated that Gauteng was one of the four provinces that led in various types of criminal activity.
According to Mchunu, they are scheduled to travel to Gauteng to talk with the premier and his staff about how the province’s law-enforcement agencies — which include the SA Police Service, metro police, and crime prevention units — will cooperate to combat crime.
According to him, the hotspots were identified as Katlehong, Thembisa, Tsakane, and Germiston.
Nice article.
Good summary and compilation of the raised concerns by community of tsakane and the other sarrounding areas.
Nice conclusion as well with inputs by the police ministers.