As year ends MEC thank communities for peace and reducing protests in Gauteng
Gauteng Human Settlements, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC Jacob Mamabolo has expressed his gratitude and thanked communities in Gauteng for allowing government to engage with them peacefully to substantially reduce service delivery protests in the province.
“As 2014 draws to the end, and as we celebrate the festive season, the situation in Gauteng is one of calmness and peace is reigning across our communities in the province. This environment is not accidental, it is a product of robust engagement with leadership of various communities in Gauteng, working closely with municipalities to bring everlasting peace,” MEC Mamabolo said.
In his maiden State of the Province Address Premier David Makhura assured people of Gauteng that his leadership collective will attend to all issues raised by communities and that they will not be afraid to face angry communities to find amicable solutions. One of MEC Mamabolo’s immediate tasks was to go and normalise all violence hotspots particularly those that became worse before the general elections.
“The importance of dialogue and meaningful engagement cannot be overemphasised. Tackling issues head on and talking frankly among parties has helped us to find each other during hard and sometimes long negotiations. But I take my hat off to people of Gauteng who exhibited highest levels of trust and confidence to work with us in a peaceful manner. No one ever thought that Bekkersdal will be normalised, and yet we did restore peace working with local leadership,” MEC Mamabolo said, adding that it was a humbling experience working with people of Gauteng during difficult times.
Since assuming office MEC Mamabolo has met no less than 22 communities, meeting them more than once to discuss various thorny issues. The attitude of government is that no issue is too small to warrant government attention. Some of the communities the MEC met with include Bronkhorstspruit, Diepkloof, Kutloanong, Somalia, Thembelihle, Boiketlong, Lenasia and so on.
“Whilst I’m delightful and thank all our communities for working well with us, I would like to reiterate our commitment to working together with the communities in 2015 and to continue working tirelessly to find peaceful and amicable solutions. We will work on building closer ties with more community leaders and it is our hope that working together we will create a peaceful environment for the 2016 local government elections,” MEC Mamabolo said.
MEC Mamabolo also wished the communities, leaders and councillors a merry Christmas and a festive season to reflect on how best Gauteng can me made a better place to live for all its citizens.
For more information contact:
Motsamai Motlhaolwa
Cell: 079 897 2240
