The Northern Cape Provincial Government led by the Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, today had a follow up meeting with community representatives known as the People’s Forum. This follows a request by these community representatives to engage the Premier and the Sol Plaatje Municipality on their plans in assisting the municipality with the service delivery challenges and the intervention announced by the Provincial Government. Joining the Premier in the meeting were the MEC’s for the Department of Roads and Public Works, Transport, Safety and Liaison and Health, the Director General and senior government officials. Accompanying the Mayor were members from the Mayoral Committee and Executive Managers from the Sol Plaatje Municipality.

The aim of the meeting was to present the plans of the Implementation Task Team, which is a joint plan between the Provincial Government and the Sol Plaatje Municipality to address the short term challenges and work towards long term solutions to speed up service delivery in this municipal jurisdiction.

This office also notes with disappointment the many negative comments; in some cases from clandestine accounts, on social media. Premier wishes to make it pertinently clear that he has always promoted and encouraged dialogue with any person or organisation with a genuine and vested interest in building a modern, growing and successful province and city.

As Provincial Government we welcome the request made by these community members to form part of the intervention as well as their upfront declaration that they do not see any progress in destruction and vandalizing of property as a means to make their voices heard. Community members were allowed an opportunity to present their unique concerns as per their areas. The Premier calls on community members who are of the view that they are acting in the interest of the community to join the forum so that we can jointly ensure that we restore the dignity of the city and ensure that all our citizens have access to quality basic services.

In order to ensure that the process is as transparent as possible, a community Steering Committee has been established that will receive weekly reports on progress made on the intervention programme and the plans for the week that follows. Dr Saul reiterated Government’s commitment to see the successful rollout of the programme and called on the Municipality to be responsive and understanding to the calls of the community. Government will continue to work with anyone that has the genuine concern of communities at heart and wishes to see a difference in the areas where they reside.

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Bronwyn Thomas-Abrahams
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Issued by the Office of the Premier
4 May 2021