Residents in and around Mafikeng and surrounding villages, would have realised developments taking place in the area, from potholes that are being repaired, street lights that have been switched on to illegal refuse dumping sites that are now being cleared.
This is all part of a service delivery improvement plan by the Mafikeng local municipality to ensure that the municipality’s image is being restored to reposition Mafikeng as the capital city of the North West province. Work to reseal the potholes has already started in earnest in the central business district (CBD) and surrounding areas.
The North West Provincial Executive Council in June this year intervened and placed the municipality under Section 139(1) (b) of the Constitution for its failure to deliver basic services, poor financial management and weak administrative systems.This led to the appointment of an administrator to bring about stability within the municipality. Last year, the municipality was identified as priority municipality for the
Municipal Systems Act, Section 106 investigation by the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) for allegations on fraud, corruption and maladministration.
According to the administrator, Monnapula Motlogelwa, part of the service delivery improvement plan for the municipality, would include, facilitation of new projects, unblocking of old projects and maintenance of infrastructure. “Another critical issue that needs urgent attention is the improvement of the financial controls of the municipality. At the moment revenue collection for services is very low and therefore impacts negatively on the financial viability of the municipality”, he said.
The North West Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs has since deployed a financial expert and an engineer from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to the municipality as part of Siyenza Manje initiative which is intended to build capacity at local government level.
