Ekurhuleni residents voice grievances to Ramaphosa at first GNU presidential imbizo

Gauteng became the first province to host a presidential imbizo under the seventh administration. Hundreds of residents were at the Tsakane sports ground in Ekurhuleni on Friday, August 23, hoping to share their plight with President Cyril Ramaphosa and ministers.

Ramaphosa opened the event by saying, “I have an eye infection. The doctors are working on it. Despite being on sick leave, I had to come here and be with you. It was important for me to be here.”

Kedibone Ndlovu, a single parent, told of her struggles as a single parent to put her child through school and university, only for her child to now sit idly at home with a law degree because of a lack of job opportunities.

Ndlovu also lamented the corruption and crime in Tsakane. “Please fix our police station, [where there are] corrupt police officers who take bribes. I have a problem with our councillors, they are very corrupt.”

Ministers at the event were predominantly from the ANC. Non-ANC ministers present included Cogta Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa (IFP), Tourism Minister Patricia de Lille (Good), Sports, Arts and Culture Minister Gayton McKenzie (PA), Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso (PAC), Deputy Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Narend Singh (IFP) and Deputy Water and Sanitation Minister Isaac Seitlholo (DA).

Read more: Very big, very bloated, but will the GNU be better? 

Ministers and deputies  from the DA - which makes up the second largest number of members in the executive after the ANC - were largely absent.

Minister in the Presidency Kenny Morolong, downplayed suggestions of a deliberate snub. “Ministers and deputy ministers are hard at work engaging with stakeholders and citizens on a programme of national unity, and I think we must accept that not all ministers can be part of these imbizos,” he said.

Expensive events

District Development Model presidential imbizos are designed to tackle municipal service delivery issues and promote dialogue with citizens. Each imbizo costs about R10-million.

The Sunday Times reported that nearly R45-million had been spent on four imbizos over eight months.

On Friday, Ramaphosa said: “A number of people in our country look down on this process of imbizo. They say it’s a waste of time. It’s not a waste of time; it’s very valuable for us as a government to listen to our people.

“It may look expensive, but this is money well spent. We are interacting with the people, and some people have complained that they feel excluded. The mayor spent the night interacting with people and we have learned valuable lessons.”

Residents’ concerns

Ekurhuleni residents told how they had been battling unemployment, crime, water and electricity shortages, deteriorating infrastructure, damaged roads, corruption and poverty.

Read more: Ekurhuleni loses clean audit status after attempt to oust mayor stalls again

Resident Xolisile Shabangu bemoaned the lack of tarred roads and the risk of violence: “Things are bad for us as women; we have to be accompanied to the stop signs because of high crime levels. The cost of living and electricity is too high. Please bring it down.”

An elderly resident, who identified herself as Tshidi, shared her frustration about waiting for an RDP house since 1994.

Richard Molapo said, “It feels like we are in the rural areas. The minister claims that there is no load shedding but we still have constant power cuts for long periods.

“Even now when I left my house there was no power. It is the same thing with water: taps can go dry for weeks and sometimes months. We are really suffering,” said Molapo.

An elderly resident who identified herself as Johanna pleaded with Ramaphosa to tackle the nyaope drug problem. Her children were addicted to the drug and had stolen her household items, including her dentures.

“I have lost my teeth because of these drug users. Please can you help us with the drug problem,” she said.

Bernard Masondo, who spoke on behalf of local farmers, asked the government to release underutilised government land to them.

“We are able to look after ourselves, we want to feed ourselves. This idea that we will be fed by other people is outdated; it must be outlawed. We, as local people, must produce our own food in order to fight food insecurity," said Masondo.

Read more: Lack of access to clean drinking water tops agenda as Ramaphosa takes imbizo to rural Limpopo

Promises, promises 

The government made a slew of promises including that it would build a university in the metro, provide free wi-fi and clamp down on crime.

Ramaphosa acknowledged the citizens’ concerns, saying: “We have said, as the Government of National Unity, that our key priority is to grow the economy, create jobs and fight poverty. But to do this, we need strong municipalities. We need Ekurhuleni to be a strong municipal district area.

“It is municipalities that are the engine rooms of development because they provide the services to our people, but they are also economic engine rooms.

“Ekurhuleni metro is particularly well positioned as an economic driver of job creation. Ekurhuleni is a major transformation hub, but apart from that, Ekurhuleni is the manufacturing capital of our whole country.”

Minister of Water and Sanitation Pemmy Majodina said the government had identified leaks as a cause of water problems in the area.

“Water is running down roads, even damaging them constantly. Residents need to help the municipality address these leaks and conserve water.

“Additionally, some people are stealing water by tapping into the system and taking what is not meant for them,” she said.

Foiled protest 

Before the imbizo, residents distributed a letter on social media that read: “On Friday, 23 August 2024, another Presidential Imbizo will be held in Tsakane, Ekurhuleni, where the President is set to engage the communities on service delivery concerns. #NotInMyName calls on the people of Tsakane to reject this event and demand that funds be utilised for community development.”

This prompted the deployment of a heavy police presence, including Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department officers and crime prevention wardens known as Amapanyaza at the event.

When the event was over, resident Sydney Nxumalo said: “We have heard all these things before, for three decades. I don’t know if I have faith right now, but maybe things will be different because of the GNU.”  DM