No final decision on demarcation - board
2013-01-25 14:25
Pretoria - No final decision has been made on the proposed amalgamation of
the Metsimaholo and Ngwathe local municipalities, the Municipal Demarcation
Board (MDB) said on Friday.
"No final decision has been made on the demarcation. The community was
not supposed to revolt. They were supposed to write to us and say 'we are not
happy'," said MDB CEO Gabisile Gumbi-Masilela.
The proposed merger was published to enable the communities, political
parties and individuals to see that the board had made a decision and to then
make their contributions, she told reporters in Pretoria.
Gumbi-Masilela said people had assumed the merger had been finalised when
they read about the proposal in the media, but this was not the case.
Review task team
They still had an opportunity to oppose the board’s decision or to make
their own proposals, she said.
On Thursday, the MDB met Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs
Minister Richard Baloyi to discuss the violent protests which led to the loss
of lives and the destruction of property in Zamdela, Sasolburg, in the Free
State, this week.
"The parties have agreed to collaborate closely within their respective
mandates to ensure a concerted effort towards the building of an effective and
efficient local government system," said MDB deputy chairperson Nondumiso
Gwayi.
Baloyi has established a demarcation process review task team to help him
monitor and review the process which led to the situation in Zamdela.
Similar cases
Gwayi said Baloyi and the board had agreed to identify similar cases in
other parts of the country which might show the potential for similar, violent
protests.
"The board has reassured the minister that the process was in full
compliance with the law and beyond reproach," she said.
Gwayi said the demarcation process had just started and the amalgamation of
municipalities had not been finalised.
She said the board would in future try to improve public participation
processes, to enable communities to better understand them.
The consultation process on proposed re-demarcations started in June 2011.
- SAPA
