Community action groups will hold a picket outside Sol Plaatje Municipality on Thursday following allegations of sexual harassment and victimisation at the local authority.
THE UNITED Community of Sol Plaatje Municipality (UCSPM) and the Kimberley Action Group (KAG) will be holding a picket outside the municipality on Thursday against complaints of sexual harassment and victimisation at the local authority.
Boyce Makodi from the UCSPM and KAG said they had requested Sol Plaatje executive mayor Kagisho Sonyoni on January 6 to arrange a meeting with mayoral committee members and officials to address their concerns.
“Up until today (Wednesday), we have not received any feedback. It is worrying that the mayor has not seen it fit to set time aside to address our grievances, when he is visible all over social media attending ANC functions,” said Makodi.
“We have on numerous occasions tried to set up meetings but the last time, they informed us that the mayor was busy with South African Local Government Association training.”
Makodi said that female security guards were hired in March 2020 but were never allowed to report for duty.
“We also requested the mayor to update us on the migration to Eskom as well as the procurement of renewable energy, the overall action plan for the turnaround strategy and local economic development, the formalisation of informal settlements and the rezoning of land for residential use.
“The mayor must address the poor condition of RDP houses and new housing projects as well as to attend to the drowning of Bonakele Magugwane in Promised Land in October 2021.”
Makodi said that residents could not “continue paying the price for politically corrupt and incompetent officials”.
“Residents and the youth are looking to the mayor to save the city from becoming a ghost town.”
He called on the mayor to resolve poor service delivery issues dating back to previous councils.
Sol Plaatje Municipality did not respond to media enquiries.
