CONSTITUENCY WORK
Rev. Kenneth Meshoe, MP, of the African Christian Democratic Party hears from a resident of an informal settlement in Gauteng.
North West province, on a Saturday in April. Some have walked long distances, others live close by. They all have one reason for attending – to tell Member of Parliament Mr Themba Godi about their service delivery problems. Mr Godi is the President of the
APC and a veteran MP. As the only APC representative in Parliament, he has a big job doing constituency work during recess. “The major thing is to empower
people. People must have knowledge. Parliament works for all South Africans, not based on what party you belong to. Politics is the science of serving the people…and we want an active citizenry,” Mr Godi tells his audience. This is Mr Godi’s second visit to the
village. He was here before the local government elections on 18 May 2011, and he is not impressed with the state of the main road which is riddled with potholes. Mr Godi assures residents
that the four APC councillors in the local municipality will take up their grievances with the relevant authorities. He stresses that elected officers
has been done to date. Seventeen teachers share two toilets and fortunately for them their toilet doors do function. The approximately 436 learners
are not so lucky. “Some doors can’t close so you have to ask fellow learners to stand guard and shield you from prying eyes. It is really embarrassing,” said one Grade 12 learner. Furthermore, the school does not have a proper laboratory and most of the chemical experiments have to be left to the imagination of learners. There is also no library. “These learners are being disadvantaged by the lack of these crucial resources,” said Mr Hlengwa.
African People’s Convention (APC) About 50 people converge on a small hall at Mmakuba Primary School in the rural village of Makapanstad,
are there for the sole purpose of serving the people. “Power belongs to the people,” says Mr Godi. “But politics operates in a way that people are (rendered) powerless by those in office, whereas they were put in power by the people.”
Azanian People’s Organization (Azapo) Azapo MP Mr Jacob Dikobo is a hero in his home village of Makgophong which is approximately 97 kms from Polokwane, Limpopo. The villagers look up to him and rely on him to help them address their problems. The venue of the meeting is the
humble household of local headman Mr Simon Makgatha who falls under the jurisdiction of Inkosi Sello Kekana of MaNdebele A Se Moletlane. The headman introduces Mr Dikobo. The MP encourages villagers to speak freely about their problems or complaints. Speak freely, they do. They tell him that the water supply in
the place has been erratic and say some people’s grants have stopped suddenly with no explanation. They also say there is a need for
a bridge in the village because when there are heavy rains a local river becomes flooded, which makes it impossible for them to reach other parts of the village. Their pleas for help to the local government have fallen on deaf ears, they say. In response to residents, Mr
Dikobo lauds them for their frankness in expressing their dissatisfaction with certain aspects of service delivery. He stresses that an active citizenry is a necessity for any democracy. He promises that he will take up their issues with relevant authorities.
Independent Democrats (ID) Constituency work has nothing to do with party politics. It is all about serving the people, irrespective of their political affiliation. So says ID MP Mr Joe McGluwa as he interacts with the staff at Tlhoafaleng Home-Based Care organization in the rural village of Ganalaagte, North West. “Forget the colour, whether black
or white, let’s serve our country,” says Mr McGluwa. Joy is written all over the faces of the organization’s project manager (Ms Sophy Chenepe) and staff: they are receiving brand new blankets for the people they care for. The organization looks after people with HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and disabilities. Not far from Ganalaagte is the
small town of Delareyville. It has an estimated population of 20,000. Apart from a pothole-ridden road, what stresses most locals here is a dump site. Not only is the local council’s rubbish being offloaded in the wrong spot, the dump site (with no access control) has become a squatter camp. It gets worse: the homeless burn plastic which emits toxic fumes. A nearby farmer has had to put down his two horses because they had inhaled the poisonous smoke. “This matter has been reported
to both the local and provincial governments but to no avail. This issue now needs national attention. I will be writing to the Minister of
Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs,” says Mr McGluwa. According to a local farmer, the local council does not even have a permit for the dump site. The farmer also fears that there might be really dangerous materials at the site because medical waste is disposed of there as well. In another “shocking situation”,
Mr McGluwa says a community of Tshing in Ventersdorp, which is one of the areas for his constituency work, has had to cope with “rivers of raw sewage flowing through the streets and homes of the community”. It was later established that the
local sewage reservoir had been overflowing since July 2012. Mr McGluwa has taken it upon himself to seek solutions to all problems experienced by residents in his constituency areas.
African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) ACDP MP Reverend Kenneth Meshoe listens in shock and disbelief as residents of Princess informal settlement – which is on the West Rand of Johannesburg – tell him about their shortage of toilets, which has been going on for years. The squatter camp has an estimated population of at least 6 000 people, but has only three water taps and no electricity. Rev. Meshoe assures them that
change is coming. In his walkabout, the MP comes across a number of shacks which have been destroyed by the fire. He is so moved by the plight of dwellers that he pledges to help them with some clothing. Rev. Meshoe undertakes to approach the local municipality to attend to shack dwellers’ concerns. Then there is Majakaneng rural
village in Brits, North West. Villagers here say they have no water and this has been the case for decades. What angers the more than 10,000 residents is the fact that there are water pipes which run past the village and only serve the mines. “I am going to try to get an engineer or sponsor to connect the water for the villagers,” says Rev. Meshoe.
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