Welcome to the Mpumalanga Provincial Government

"Leaders must not take community needs for granted" - MEC Shongwe

21 March 2013

In a meeting that took place on 20 March 2013 between Mpumalanga Municipalities and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs MEC SPD Skhosana with Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC Vusi Shongwe, Executive Mayors were told to prioritize the basic needs of communities as it perpetrated violent protests in the province.

The purpose of the meeting was to discuss and find ways of dealing with violent protests that negatively affect government and law-abiding citizens.

Speaking at the meeting, MEC Shongwe instructed the Executive Mayors to ensure that Ward Councilors have regularly meetings with their communities to avoid unnecessary protests which sometimes result to damage of properties and also unnecessary stretching police resources.

“You must not take people for granted; if you cannot deliver what you have promised them, report to them and not wait for protests to break before you can communicate with them,” Shongwe told the councilors.

He added that police officers’ responsibility is to arrest criminals and not to be security guards for protests; therefore ward councilors as community leaders must play a role in preventing protests.

He further said that protests are a sign that there was no proper leadership in communities and called for councilors who are not willing to work for the people to vacate their positions.

“We must also move away from having Izimbizo that do not assist communities; they should not be talk shows, people must see the results and benefits after those activities,” emphasized Shongwe.

Meanwhile, he also called for municipalities residing next to boarders and boarder lines to assist by regularly monitoring boarder activities to eliminate corruption and crime.

He said that this had an impact on service delivery as non-documented people from other countries unlawfully benefited from government services, depriving deserving people of the province of quality services.

Enquiries:

Joseph Mabuza
Tel:
013 766 4055
Cell:
082 678 1450


Issued by Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison


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