MEC for agriculture and rural development in the Free State Thembeni Nxangisa has come under fire from communities of Harrismith and Masilonyana over his proposals to do away with several municipalities in the province, arguing new ones are needed to deliver better services and good governance.
In a proposal document, Nxangisa recommended that Harrismith, which falls under Maluti-a-Phofung local municipality in the Thabo Mofutsanyane district, be removed and incorporated into Phumelela local municipality.
In the proposal, which Sunday World has seen, Nxangisa says six new municipalities should be established, while two existing municipalities should be disestablished.
Nxangisa says areas such as Dewetsdorp, Wepener and Van Stadensrus, which fall under Mangaung Metro Municipality and Mohokare’s Zastron, should get a new municipality.
He is also proposing that Rouxville and Smithfield, which fall under Mohokare local municipality and Kopanong’s Bethulie, become a new municipality.
However, Nxangisa’s proposal has not gone down well with the community of Harrismith, which said he had failed to do the right thing when he was Cogta MEC.
Mayibuye Greater Harrismith movement secretary and community leader Khindla Mlangeni said Nxangisa should not turn himself into a mouthpiece for the people of Harrismith.
“Nxangisa is from the Eastern Cape and he was the MEC of Cogta who never saw anything wrong before when we have been fighting to be removed from Maluti-a-Phofung. Now he makes recommendations without telling us. Who told him to decide on what we want? He is not the resident of Harrismith and we don’t care about his proposal. He never consulted us as the community and what we want is an
independent municipality,” Mlangeni said.
Maluti-a-Phofung also weighed in on the matter through its spokesperson, Thabo Kessah, who said the municipality does not believe moving Harrismith to Phumelela is the solution.
“The municipality does not agree with the proposal, but believes that the improvement of service delivery is the solution and is what is urgent.
“Having to remove Harrismith from MAP would leave both Qwaqwa and Kestel economically deprived in the long run,” said Kessah.
Defending his proposal, Nxangisa said that he drafted his proposal as an ANC member, and the document was going to form part of the discussion within the organisation next week.
“The proposal I had made was for the ANC in the province to discuss internally, but it was leaked by overzealous people who wanted to create drama where there is none. I took the initiative to propose as I was once a Cogta MEC and I know how this demarcation and placing of municipalities in certain areas had created challenges on service delivery and good governance,” he said.
Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB) spokesperson Barileng Dichabe said: “The MDB is still receiving proposals until the 31 March 2022. Thereafter, it will determine whether to consider any proposal in terms of the demarcation criteria and take them through the process as set out in the Demarcation Act, including amongst others public consultation before the final decision is taken.”
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