21 October 2021
Byline: Levhuwani Matumba
The Govan Mbeki Municipality Executive Mayor, Cllr Nhlakanipho Zuma met with some of the Kinross residents on Sunday, 17 October 2021 at Kinross Sasol Club.
The meeting was also graced by the local Chiefs, abondabezitha.
The mayor showed up on a meeting request made by the residents regarding the issue of township development at Kinross Town.
During the meeting, some residents complained that people from outside get allocated stands and are also beneficiaries of RDPs while people who grew up in Kinross get nothing.
“When we complain to the councillors, we are told to be patient but now the question is until when must we be patient?” said one of the residents.
Oom Piet who currently lives in a shack on a farm with his family said he feels that the system failed him.
“I am 82-years-old and live in a shack.
Every time during the election campaign, the politicians come to my place and promise me an RDP, I vote for them and after that nothing happens.
The sad part is that I was in Robben Island during the apartheid years whereby I happened to meet some of the politicians there and I witnessed their sufferings.
When the ANC came into power, I thought things will change for the better, but I now realize that we are experiencing the worst.
I thought the ANC is a non-racial party because people of all colour fought for freedom but here I am being discriminated because I am coloured,” said Oom Piet who walked a long distance to attend the meeting at Kinross Sasol Club.
After listening to the people complaints, the executive mayor responded by promising residents that the Mpumalanga MEC for Human Settlement, Mr Speedy Mashilo will meet with residents in Kinross Sasol Club on Thursday, 21 October 2021.
He further urged those who attended to make sure that more people attend so that they can get firsthand information themselves.
The mayor promised to keep in touch with the community leaders to confirm the time which the MEC will be in Kinross.
So far, the mayor failed to confirm the time for the meeting, making it difficult for the leaders to cascade the information on the ground.
Some residents vowed to disrupt the elections should the mayor fails to resolve the issue of RDP beneficiaries for Kinross.
