Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning today called on law enforcement services to respond decisively to the torching of the Swellendam Thusong Centre and a firefighting vehicle and to apprehend those behind these actions.
Protesters once again took to the streets of Swellendam today, causing large scale damage to emergency vehicles and infrastructure.
This comes only weeks after similar protest action in Swellendam caused millions of rands of damage to this historic town.
According to a memorandum, residents demanded the revision of power tariffs and the policy on indigent grants.
“It is our understanding that residents of Swellendam are being intimidated to not register on the indigent register, that will allow them to access subsidized basic services from the municipality such as an allocation of free water and electricity. It is completely unacceptable to intimidate citizens and destroy public infrastructure. The Thusong Centre and fire truck belong to the public that they serve, and acts such as these harm the people of Swellendam and the Western Cape,” Bredell said.
Swellendam Municipality is in the process of updating its indigent register with new applications, which allows for qualifying residents to receive subsidised services such as water and electricity. Historically, all Swellendam residents have had to apply for consideration and approval on the indigent register, except for those residents in the Railton informal settlement who qualified automatically by virtue of their geographic location. National legislation prescribing local government requires all municipalities to have an updated indigent register in order receive grant allocations from the national fiscus.
“This is not a Western Cape Government requirement, but a national requirement for all municipalities in South Africa,” Bredell said.
Bredell said it is impossible to plan and budget for public infrastructure, especially in the current constricted financial environment, on the one hand, only to see the senseless destruction of the very same infrastructure on the other hand. In addition, it is possible that the destroyed infrastructure won’t be restored soon, given the fiscal constraints, with the consequence that citizens and communities are the ones who will suffer most.
“It is important that municipalities have an updated indigent register to be able to plan and budget for subsidised services as well as bulk infrastructure developments and maintenance. I also want to urge local councillors to explain to residents that there is no such thing as free services. Someone is paying for everything you receive,” Bredell said.
The Swellendam Thusong Service Centre was officially opened in June 2008 by the Swellendam Municipality and the Department of Social Development in the Railton Community, before the Thusong Programme was transferred to Department of Local Government in 2010. The total cost of construction of the Thusong Service Centre was R5.1 million and the Department of Local Government Thusong Programme has also contributed throughout the years with an operational and maintenance grant.
