ActionSA in the Free State has labelled this week’s visit to Jagersfontein by Deputy President Paul Mashatile as nothing more than a publicity stunt.
ActionSA in the Free State has labelled this week’s visit to Jagersfontein by Deputy President Paul Mashatile as nothing more than a publicity stunt.
This comes after Mashatile and provincial leaders conducted a service delivery oversight visit to the community of Jagersfontein on Tuesday, after the area was hit by a mine dam flood in September 2022.
The small town was destroyed, with houses and other infrastructure, as well as animals, affected by the mine dam collapse in September last year. It is reported that at least 200 people were displaced, over 100 houses were destroyed and two lives were lost, with others still missing following the collapse of the dam.
Mashatile indicated that plans to restore and rebuild some of the houses that were destroyed would be completed in the next six months.
While addressing residents following his service delivery oversight visit, Mashatile revealed that the Jagersfontein Development Project (JDP) has pledged to build houses for displaced residents in the coming six months.
He said one of the projects that the provincial government is looking into is investing in the solar system project, which will create 6,000 jobs in the area.
However, ActionSA provincial chairperson and spokesperson Nomawethu Sbukwana said this visit was nothing but a PR stunt and would have no benefit for the people of Jagersfontein, who remain destitute.
“Apparently, Deputy President Mashatile was there on a service delivery oversight visit. This is after the dam tragedy that happened in September 2022. Numerous promises were made by various government departments, and to date, not a single one of those promises has been fulfilled,’’ Sbukwana said.
“A far better use of Mashatile’s time would have been to put pressure on the government departments to ensure that their promises were fulfilled and that basic services were restored for the community.”
Sbukwana said that in the more than six months since the tragedy, there has been no progress to restore the lives of the affected community members.
“To date, nothing has been done to improve people’s lives; 186 families remain displaced with no houses. After eight months, the government has managed to build three sample houses to demonstrate what the government can do for people. This is an indictment against the Free State government.“
She said some people have had to live without water for years, and despite many letters written to the provincial government, nothing has been done to solve these issues.
“We have written numerous letters to various state departments and Chapter 9 institutions demanding accountability. To date, we have received no response from all these entities, except for the Human Rights Commission, which agreed to investigate gross violations of human rights.’’
“Trompsburg, Fauresmith, Edenburg and Jagersfontein have been without water for years due to the money owed to Bloem Water. He once again made an empty promise that the money owed to Bloem Water would be paid, but made no assurances as to when this would happen,’’ she said.
