POLOKO TAU
AN ORGANISATION pushing for Soweto to be declared a local municipality said it was happy that the Municipal Demarcation Board had announced that its application was being considered.
In its, application in October last year, the Hola Bon Renaissance Foundation (HBRF) asked the board to redraw Joburg’s municipal boundaries and to make the historic township a municipality of its own.
The foundation attempted to prevent President Jacob Zuma from announcing the election date in his State of the Nation address earlier this year, arguing that their application to the board had not been addressed satisfactorily.
Their application to interdict Zuma was dismissed by the Constitutional Court in February.
The board’s chairman, Landiwe Mahlangu, said after a meeting of the groups yesterday: “It has always been our firm view that matters of demarcation should be settled face-to-face in a constructive interaction.”
The board said the HBRF’s request would be considered with all other applications.
Foundation spokesman Preddy Mothopeng said they were “content with the process so far”.
“Soweto will be declared a local municipality come 2013,” he predicted.
The process to re-determine municipal boundaries begun in June 2011, and it is envisaged it will be completed in 2013.