General News

The Executive Mayor of Rustenburg, Councillor Mpho Khunou expressed concern during the City’s bi-weekly Intergovernmental Relations Forum (IGR Forum) virtual meeting on Covid-19 which he chairs. The Mayor said, while evidence shows that the efforts which have been led by the department of health, were yielding positive results in containing the spread of the virus, much still needed to be done to re-educate the public on the dangers of Covid-19 and the envisaged third wave.

The Executive Mayor said it was worrying that people went on about wearing face masks inappropriately or not having any masks at all “we know that face masks, cause some level of discomfort because it is not something we are not used to. Despite that we should at all times play our part, and not be complacent, the numbers may be going down, but Covid-19 still roams among us and continues to leave a trail of heartbreak and pain among those who had to bury their loved ones. We must not be suffering from Covid-19 fatigue; we have more to lose than we think” Mayor Khunou remarked.

Mayor Khunou’s comments follow an operation which was led by the City’s Public Safety Directorate where inspections were conducted in businesses in the CBD, government buildings as well as the various mining operations around Rustenburg. The inspections, which were conducted at Home Affairs, Post Office, Shoprite, and at one Impala’s operations pointed out numerous non-compliance issues such as the snaking queues outside premises, with inadequate spaces in between persons as required by the regulations.

SASSA’s operation continues to be of concern as many people go to the offices, to access various services including Covid-19 relief funds. The organization has indicated despite the Covid-19 health and safety measures put in place, the reluctance by some of the members of the public to adhere to social distancing and wearing masks correctly is a cause for concern.

By the end of yesterday evening, Rustenburg had recorded a total of 18351 with about 17091 cases which have been confirmed as recoveries. The case management in the City accounts for over 30% percent of the total cases recorded in the North West Province to date and makes Rustenburg the provincial hotspot. The department of Health in the sub-district noted that although numbers were significantly lower as compared to the previous weeks, the virus was still prevalent, as all of the City’s 45 wards recorded Covid-19 cases.

Further to that, it continues to concern the department, that there is no change in the data collated in respect of the areas which have been identified as hotspots, where numerous Covid-19 non-compliance has been identified. The areas which continue to rank as high Covid-19 hotspots are Freedom Park, Phokeng, Rustenburg CBD, Marikina, Sunrise, Ramochana, Tlhabane West, Boitekong, Geelhout Park, Waterfall East, Mfidikwe, Luka, Kanana and Chaneng.

The mining sector has shown great improvement in respect of the number of recoveries of the virus. The health interventions which have been put in place, have ensured that the number of recorded cases remain low while recoveries continue to dominate. This is remarkable as the economy, requires all of its workforce in good health in ensuring that Rustenburg’s growth continues, despite the challenge the Covid-19 has brought upon the city.

With schools set to reopen from Monday, the law enforcement agencies will be out to ensure compliance to wearing of masks, which is a punishable offense that carries a jail time of up to six (6) months imprisonment or a payment of a fine.   The operation intends to target Rustenburg town and all public areas which include the bus and taxi terminus to ascertain if there is general compliance as required by law. The Education Department has indicated that all systems have been put in place and there are no anticipated disruptions in the resumption of the academic year, given the time lost already, due to the forced shutdown at the height of the second wave.

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Executive Mayor of Rustenburg Local Municipality, Councillor Mpho Khunou was part of a delegation that conducted a site inspection of the newly built Rustenburg Mall. The mall which is opposite Rustenburg’s Noord suburb was officially launched during a sod-turning ceremony in August 2019. The property was developed at a tune of 1.2 billion rands and is expected to revive the economy of the City, which in recent years was bludgeoned by the bloodbath of jobs cuts in the mining sector, to which the City has been heavily dependent.

The delegation also comprised representatives from the property developers, comprising Moolman Group, Twin City, and JB Holdings which have been at the forefront of the development. The construction of the new mall presented locals and the Small, Medium, Micro

Enterprises (SMME’s) with opportunities which included sub-contracting and temporary employment during the construction phase. During this phase, the project created 800 jobs, for the residents of the City. The Mall is expected to bring about 1000 permanent jobs once retailers take up space in the 120 retail spaces which have been allocated to different outlets for trading.

Remarking on the project after the inspection of the facility, Mayor Khunou said Rustenburgers will reap long-lasting benefits from the project “we are very impressed that the mall is virtually complete and will be ready for operation in the first quarter of this year, as initially anticipated by the developers. For us, the commitment to deliver on the project in time is key, as it shows demonstrates a commitment to Rustenburg’s development. People have been skeptical about investing in Rustenburg and we are pleased that you came here to demonstrate that this City, still has a lot to offer in respect of economic development” concluded Mayor Khunou.

The Executive Mayor was accompanied by the Municipal Manager – Mr. Victor Makona, Member of the Mayoral Committee on Local Economic Development – Councillor Ofentse Kombe and Director in the same portfolio – Mr. Edward Komane. The Rustenburg Mall will serve more than 80,000 households in the primary trade area, which includes established suburbs such as Geelhoutpark, Proteapark, Karlienpark, and Tlhabane West.

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The Rustenburg Local Municipality remains concerned about incidents of electrical and water supply interruptions, which have left many of our residents greatly inconvenienced this past weekend. The RLM, hereby renders its apology to residents, as the situation was further compounded by the inclement weather many parts of the country have had to put up with. Areas along the R 24 road, Zinniaville, Karlien Park, Tlhabane West and Bo Dorp experienced power outages, due to a cable fault, on the electrical network.

The significant delay in resolving many of the reported electricity supply complaints, was due to the downing of tool by employees from the Electrical Unit, claiming to have reached the maximum hours for over-time for the month as provided for within the applicable labour prescript. This occurred at a time when these employees were expected to be on duty, servicing our residents in accordance with the responsibilities the RLM has been entrusted with.

This put a considerable strain on the employees who in light of the situation, opted to serve the City’s residents. The Municipality relied on few employees who had the insurmountable task, of resolving all complaints related to electricity supply at the weekend. The leadership collective of the RLM conveys its gratitude to the Acting Manager – Electrical Services Mr. Edgar Phiri for his dedication and commitment in resolving the power outages which the Municipality was notified of.

The Municipal Manager has put in a contingency plan, by sourcing an external service provider to be available and to augment the City’s Electrical Unit in resolving service delivery challenges. The Executive Mayor and Municipal Manager taking into account the frustration of residents, spent the weekend until late at night on site with the team to ensure that work is done for electrical supply to be restored. The Greater Boitekong area was also affected by the power supply challenges, which were resolved on Sunday afternoon by the skeleton staff which was working during the weekend.

The RLM is also aware of water supply challenges in Greater Boitekong. Water supply was suspended due to a damaged 600 mm diameter bulk pipe-line. On the first day the internal staff attended to the site but a call was made that an external service provider should be sourced. The service provider had to manufacture the size and quality the portion of the pipe in resolving the issue. Further delays were caused by the manufacturing of the pipe, which happened outside Rustenburg. Once work was completed, regrettably the pipe burst again. Teams from Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum have been on-site to attend to this challenge, while work continues around the clock in resolving the problem.

A meeting took place earlier today chaired by the Executive Mayor, where the Municipal Manager and entire DTIS management team was present, to take stock of what transpired at the weekend and to put in place intervention measures. The Municipal Manager has been directed to attend to employees’ decision to down tools, when it was expected of them to be on duty. Residents must note that there is a consequence management process against the same employees who were involved in an illegal strike late last year. The Accounting Officer was directed to ensure that the service provider performs in accordance with expectations and that residents are not subjected to prolonged water supply interruptions. There was also a further directive to the Municipal Manager to deal with challenges pertaining to operations at IMQS and call centre to ensure that service delivery complaints are dispatched on time and to the relevant persons.

The Municipal Manager is expected to take stern actions; it is concerning that senior managers are not available to provide service to residents especially on weekends as well as giving regular updates on resolving issues raised by residents. A Special Mayoral meeting will be held on Thursday, where the Municipal Manager will be expected to shed more light on the interventions made on the above mentioned challenges.

Further updates will be communicated to the residents on Friday.

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