Author: Thabang Morutloa

Residents of the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality in the North West have criticised all government spheres for failing to render essential services to the communities in Mahikeng on Thursday, during the Provincial Legislature program of taking the Legislature to the People. The Ngaka Modiri Molema Municipality had experienced several service delivery protests as disgruntled communities took to the streets barricading roads with burning debris, vandalising infrastructure and preventing learners going to school. Tshepiso Matladi from Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality said the department should increase its support program with supplements; livestock and equipment as more people are into farming due…

One of the three men who perished when their home caught fire over the weekend in Jouberton, outside of Klerksdorp, in the North West, might have survived had the nearby Tshepong hospital been operational. This is according to members of the community who awoke on Saturday night to a dense cloud of smoke and a raging fire that had engulfed the house killing Lisekho Mahlahlana (17), Sanele Sibanana (20) and Lonwabo Mkatshwa (28). The three men come from the Eastern Cape and are all related and were sharing and renting the Jouberton house together. A neighbour Msibi Mbele said that…

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education says the Basic Education Laws Amendment bill (BELA) will help reshape the education system of the country. The committee held public hearings for three days in the North West, regarding the BELA. If approved, the bill proposes among others giving government Heads of Department’s (HOD’s) power over school language policy and curriculums, for the sale of alcohol at school premises for fundraising, and making grade R compulsory. The committee’s chairperson, Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, said the Department wants to change a lot of clauses in the South African School Act of 1996. “Some of the key…

Although North West municipalities are on the brink of collapse due to old and crumbling infrastructure and a lack of resources, some of the municipalities have failed to utilize their Municipal Infrastructure Grants (MIG) due to a lack of planning and money had to be sent back to the Treasury. The MIG is a conditional grant intended for infrastructure development, which includes electricity, stormwater management, sanitation and municipal roads among others. However, a report compiled by the North West Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has shown the Ditsobotla, Ratlou, and Mamusa local municipalities as having spent zero percent…

The DA in the North West has raised concerns over the provincial government’s failure to spend the allocated conditional grant funding intended for infrastructural projects. In response to the DA’s written questions, Finance MEC Motlalepula Rosho acknowledged that provincial government departments failed to spend over R1,063 billion during the 2021/22 financial year. This failure to utilise the budget comes in light of the failure of the North West government to deliver essential services to its residents including clean water and sanitation, road infrastructure and health services. This has led to several protests across the province where disgruntled communities have rioted,…

Eskom has threatened court action against some North West Municipalities who owed the power utility R5 billion for electricity it sold on its behalf and warn that the debt may hamper its ability to keep lights on in the province. At a meeting convened by the province’s local government department in Mahikeng on Tuesday it transpired that the non paying municipalities include Rustenburg, Naledi, Kgetlengrievier and Matlosana local municipalities, Eskom’s North West Key Customer Relations Manager Sam Mosellela, said the power utility may in the future fail to provide electricity supply in the province if the debt is not paid.…

The North West Departments of Health, Education, Public Works and Roads have received the biggest chunk of the 2023/24 budget allocation according to the North West MEC for Finance, Motlalepula Rosho who tabled her R51.9 billion budget at the provincial Legislature in Mahikeng on Tuesday. Rosho said the Department of Health gets R15 billion to improve services at health facilities by ensuring there are medicines and medical supplies at the clinics and hospitals. “The Department of Health receives an amount of R15.219 billion. The additions to the conditional grant allocations for the Department of Health amount to R113 million for…

The civil servants union Nehawu is threatening to intensify the public service strike, should the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) fail to adhere to its demands. Nehawu has called for a national indefinite strike demanding a salary increase of 10%, while the government is insisting on a 3% hike. The DPSA tried to interdict the strike but failed and today when addressing Nehawu members in Mahikeng in the North West, the union’s national treasure, Kgomosto Makhupola, said the workers are not backing down from their demands. “We have tabled the demands at our bargaining council, and those demands…

The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) will embark on projects to improve roads on its network within the Mahikeng Local Municipality and Ratlou Local Municipalities in the North West. The agency said it will cough up more than R78 million on the projects – which will be on the N18, R49, and R505 national roads – during a stakeholder meeting in Mahikeng on Thursday. However, the North West Amalgamated Business Forum member, Lungile Mtuyetwa accused Sanral of making empty promises. “It’s not the first time that we are called by SANRAL only to be misled, we have been invited…

The North West Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) says it will summon the Ditsobotla Local Municipality to appear before the committee after it failed to make an appearance today (Wednesday) to account for the 2020/21 audit reports. North West SCOPA’s chairperson, Job Dliso, said this is the second time that the municipality has failed to appear before the committee. “This municipality owes Scopa two previous financial reports, they have failed to come and account for the public money. We waited for them today. We have sent them questions. But they have sent us a postponement, during the time when…