Piet Retief – After notching 5 090 signatures for their petition calling for Mpumalanga Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane to come down to Mkhondo local municipality (Piet Retief) to have a first-hand account of their plight, the residents have mooted a preliminary date.
The residents have set 13 August as the date where they want to pour it all out to Mtsweni-Tsipane and her Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC, Mandla Ndlovu.
In anticipation of a large attendance, the residents have chosen the Kempville sports field in central Piet Retief which can take up to 10 000 people.
Mkhondo activist Roqaiyah Omar, who has been at the forefront of highlighting the plight of the municipality where power and water cuts, uncollected litter and poorly maintained roads are the order of the day, said the premier would be joined by Walter Mngomezulu, the Gert Sibande district mayor.
“An invitation has been sent to the Premier Refilwe Mtsweni-Tsipane, the MEC of Cogta, Mandla Ndlovu, and the district mayor, Walter Mngomezulu to come and address the masses of Mkhondo on Saturday, the 13th of August 2022, at the Kempville grounds.
"It may be an invitation yes, but we have made it clear that we as a community will not be taking no for an answer. We will be having them here in Mkhondo on the said date to address all the issues that were mentioned on the memorandum that was handed over.
"Let us stay hopeful my fellow community members. Let us all gather on the day. There comes a time when they cannot ignore us anymore and that will be the day. We will get their attention, one way or another,” Omar wrote to concerned residents via their Whatsapp group which was set up to address the crisis facing the municipality located along the South Africa-Eswatini border.
One user in the group advised all those who will attend the meeting to have evidence at hand to back up their concerns about poor service delivery.
“Photos of roads, load shedding schedules, burst waterpipes, etc. Proof of what you want them to take note of. Proof of what you are suffering and enduring. Hand it over to them. It will put an exclamation mark behind your efforts,” the concerned resident wrote.
Mtsweni-Tsipane’s spokesperson, George Mthethwa, said the date announced by the residents was not an official one.
“Some faceless and nameless people are planting stories in various platforms, (concerning) the premier's visit. Until the premier makes an official announcement, such stories will not be entertained,” Mthethwa said.
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