The Democratic Alliance (DA) will intensify pressure on Mayor Johannes Roman to urgently resolve the issues crippling economic growth in Kathu amid his continued refusal to engage with industrial-area stakeholders.
The Kathu industrial area is regarded as the economic heartbeat of Gamagara and forms part of the Kathu Business Zone. Despite its importance in driving job creation, fuelling the local economy and attracting investment, the industrial area is in a terrible condition. Roads are crumbling, businesses get left without any water supply, and power outages occur frequently.
In the first week of January, as businesses were reopening after the festive season, many went without electricity for over a week. The DA stepped in to provide daily updates to stakeholders, while the Mayor was nowhere to be seen.
Crime is also on the rise in the industrial area, largely due to the growing number of informal settlers near the waste transfer station.
It was hoped that discussions between the Mayor, who is also the councillor for Ward 8, the industrial property owners and a local mining company, would culminate in collective solutions. The Mayor instead exposed his blatant contempt for the industrial area by failing to show up to a stakeholder meeting last week. He cited procedural and protocol issues in an e-mail after previously confirming his availability telephonically.
The Mayor’s absence demonstrates his complete disregard for the industrial area and confirms that boosting local economies is not an ANC priority. During his four years as Ward 8 councillor, he has never engaged with industrial property owners.
Despite the Mayor’s absence, the meeting proceeded with DA representation, representatives of the mine and several industrial property owners. The DA’s Willie Aucamp, in his capacity as Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, who was in the area following a visit to a local primary school, also attended. Oversight of waste transfer stations and landfill sites fall under his jurisdiction.
While the ANC doesn’t care about boosting the local economy and getting more people back into jobs, the DA does. We will keep fighting for the solutions to fix industrial area challenges. We also encourage voters to show their discontent for the ANC’s job-killing attitude at the upcoming Local Government Election this year, by rather electing a DA councillor who cares, to represent Ward 8.