Who and what is AfriForum?

AfriForum is an Afrikaans civil rights organisation that protects the rights of minority groups at national as well as provincial level, and anyone who can identify with AfriForum’s principles and objectives may join the organisation. AfriForum’s community plan focuses on mobilising communities to thus take control of their own streets and neighbourhoods again. AfriForum ensures that your constitutional and civil rights are recognised and protected at national level.

Wie en wat is AfriForum?

AfriForum is ’n Afrikaanse burgerregteorganisasie wat die regte van minderheidsgroepe op sowel nasionale as provinsiale vlak beskerm, en enigiemand wat met AfriForum se beginsels en doelstellings kan identifiseer, mag by die organisasie aansluit. AfriForum se gemeenskapsplan fokus daarop om gemeenskappe te mobiliseer om só weer beheer terug te neem oor hul eie strate en woonbuurtes. AfriForum verseker dat jou grondwetlike én burgerregte op nasionale vlak erken en beskerm word.

Potchefstroom residents lose all confidence in municipal management – AfriForum files complaint with NW Premier

AfriForum’s Potchefstroom branch today lodged a complaint of poor service delivery against the JB Marks Local Municipality with the Premier of the Northwest, Lazarus Mokgosi, and is now demanding that the Premier intervene in the untenable situation in this municipality. The civil rights organisation has lodged a similar complaint with the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA).

Service delivery in the JB Marks Municipality has, according to AfriForum and to the considerable frustration of residents, now reached a low point. An opinion poll conducted by AfriForum in May, in which more than 900 residents of Potchefstroom took part, revealed that these residents experience serious dissatisfaction with municipal service delivery.

Satisfaction with the delivery of municipal services in nine categories was measured, namely: parks and recreational facilities; traffic safety; street lights; customer service at municipal offices; sewerage and sanitation services; refuse removal; road maintenance; electricity supply (excluding load shedding); and water supply.

Overall, only 10,4% of respondents indicated that they were satisfied or very satisfied with service delivery in these nine categories, while about three-quarters of respondents (or 75%) were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied. The remaining percentage were either neutral or unsure about their level of satisfaction.

The survey confirms that respondents experience the highest levels of dissatisfaction with road maintenance, street lighting and the maintenance of parks and recreational facilities. Some 95% of respondents are very dissatisfied with the municipality’s work in road maintenance, while an additional 4,6% of respondents are dissatisfied. Of the 908 respondents who reported their satisfaction in this category, only six indicated that they were unsure or neutral about the quality of service delivery. Additionally, just over 94% of respondents expressed dissatisfaction, ranging from dissatisfied to very dissatisfied, with the street lights and parks and recreational facilities in this municipality.

According to the results, Potchefstroom residents are also extremely dissatisfied with Kgomotso Kumbe, the current Municipal Manager, and Gaba Thithiba Ka Qhele, the Mayor. Just over 91% of respondents advocate for Kumbe’s removal from his position, and nearly 91% support Qhele’s firing.

In its complaint that has now been lodged with the Premier, AfriForum insists that an urgent investigation be conducted into the state of service delivery in Potchefstroom; that municipal leadership be held accountable for their failures; that the delivery of basic services (such as water, electricity and sanitation) be restored and maintained; and that a functioning complaints system for residents be established.

According to Alta Pretorius, District Coordinator of AfriForum’s Mooi River district, the findings confirm that JB Marks Municipality is failing its residents. “The community have lost their confidence in the local government’s ability to deliver quality service. The time for real action in restoring service delivery and enforcing accountability has now arrived. We believe that the provincial authorities will step in before Potchefstroom is completely destroyed. In the meantime, AfriForum will use the findings of this survey not only to put pressure on the municipality but also to continue, as part of the organisation’s do-it-yourself approach, to find solutions that will improve the quality of life of Potchefstroom’s residents,” Pretorius emphasises.

AfriForum’s Potchefstroom branch also launched a petition today through which residents can make their voices heard and demand the resignation of the Mayor and Municipal manager.