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On Sunday, residents of Marikana/Parliamenteng in Ladybrand, Mantsopa Local Municipality, took to the streets in protest as the ANC's 2021 election promises remain unfulfilled. Despite being initiated in 2019, the formalisation project for these residents aimed to establish vital infrastructure such as sanitation and running water in the area, with a designated land surveyor employed and compensated, is yet to take off. Mirroring the pattern of ANC tendering, the project languished in the surveying phase without any tangible progress.

On Tuesday, Moses Makume, the MEC of Human Settlements, visited the area to address the residents. Ironically, much of his time was spent questioning his accompanying staff from Bloemfontein about the project's advancement and protocols. The Democratic Alliance (DA) raised concerns regarding Makume's lack of preparedness, highlighting the necessity of proper departmental oversight for project information.

Makume was confronted with disconcerting facts: the initially budgeted R2.6 million for the project had ballooned to R2.9 million. Shockingly, the majority of these funds were expended on an incomplete job by a departing land surveyor - information relayed to him for the first time by his own team.

The DA will formally question the MEC at the Free State provincial legislature. Furthermore, we demand a thorough investigation into this wasteful expenditure by the municipality.

In the interim, the residents of Marikana/Parliamenteng endure their 13th year without access to sanitation or running water. Join the Campaign to Transform South Africa. The DA remains steadfast in driving nationwide change, urging all residents to register for the 2024 National and Provincial Government elections.

Issued by Tania Halse - DA Councillor Mantsopa Local Municipality