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SOUTH AFRICA: Provincial border dispute threatens school for challenged children

06 Jun 2007 17:17:42 GMT
Source: IRIN

KHUTSONG, 6 June 2007 (IRIN) - The protracted provincial border dispute between the government and residents of Khutsong, a township outside the mining town of Carletonville, is threatening the closure of a care centre for mentally and physically challenged children.

The Zanele Mtshali Disability Centre, a nongovernmental organisation, relies predominantly on state support for food, heating and medicines, Godfrey Baard, the organisation's general secretary, told IRIN, but the confusion sown by the incoporation of Khutsong from one province to another has incapacitated the official channels the organisation applies too for funding. It is a situation affecting a number of other local NGOs operating in Khutsong, he said.

Khutsong falls within the Merafong municipality, which used to straddle North West and Gauteng provinces, but was ceded last year to North West, despite continuing and often violent protests by residents wanting to remain within the orbit of Gauteng, the wealthier of the two provinces.

Baard said "We need around R500,000 (US$69,500) annually to provide for our children and pay our carers' wages, but at present we do not get any state funding because it is not clear which province we should apply to for a grant. We do not have enough money for food so the children only get bread and soup to eat. We have to charge some of the children's parents R350 (US$48) a year, but most cannot afford to pay. Our carers are working on a voluntary basis because there is no money."

Since 2005 the majority of Khutsong's 200,000 residents have stringently opposed the ruling ANC government's decision to incorporate Merafong into the country's North West province.

The Merafong municipality was one of 17 cross border districts the government decided to merge into single municipalities following the approval by the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces of the Constitutional 12th Amendment Bill early last year, allowing the redrawing of provincial boundaries and so eliminate so-called cross-border municipalities.

Public hearings

The government said the redrawing of these boundaries would ensure better service delivery for the 17 affected districts, although public hearings on Merafong's boundary change before its transfer to another province said the service delivery would not be on par with Gauteng province - and cited North West's clinics battling with medicine shortages, which also offered no after-hour services, and an education system of a far lower standard.

The public hearings confirmed the Khutsong residents worst fears, that the move to North West would lead to a worsening of service delivery, and increased their drive to remain in the country's richest province and home to its financial capital, Johannesburg.

The Merafong Demarcation Forum, a local anti-North West action group, has applied to the Constitutional Court to adjudicate whether the municipality's transfer was done in accordance with the legislation, a course of action that proved successful for one municipality, Matatiele, after the court reversed the municipality's incorporation to the Eastern Cape back to KwaZulu-Natal province.

Since before and after Khutsong's transfer to the North West, residents have organised mass demonstrations, some which turned violent because residents say government was simply ignoring their grievances.

Local shops and the houses of ANC councillors have been burned to the ground, gangs of youths often set up roadblocks at the township's entrance and last year residents boycotted local elections, with only 300 of 30,000 registered voters casting their votes. This year children and teachers have boycotted schools and resisted all efforts by government to coax them back to the classrooms.

Although the often violent protests have evoked strong criticism from government, Khutsong residents say the community had been left with little option.

Violent protests

A member of the local branch of the Young Communist League (YCL), Siphwe Nkutha, 24, told IRIN: "Public hearings were held by the community to prove to the government that the majority of Khutsong residents want to stay in Gauteng. We gave solid reasons and outlined how different sectors were far more advanced in Gauteng than in the North West.

"But they did not listen to us and never gave us reasons why we have to go to the North West province. When we voted for this government we were told 'the people shall govern,' but this has not been the case for us, so they are no longer our government."

Themba Maseko, 25, also a member of the YCL, said "In the North West they still have lots of problems: there are schools with no electricity and streets with no lights and sanitation is not good.

"Learners have no chance in the North West; once they had access to computers in Gauteng but these were taken away from our schools on April 1. That is why the teachers and students have gone on strike – moving us to the North West from Gauteng is like moving us from level 5 to level 1."

Many of Khutsong resident's believe public sector wages and pension plans would also be compromised by the move from Gauteng, a belief strongly denied by the North West premier's office spokesman, Russell Mambollo, on the basis that South Africa did not operate a federal government in which each province controlled public sector wage and benefit levels.

"There is a national standard pay structure for teachers and nurses, so no matter what province you work in or receive benefits from you get the same as your counterparts around the country.

"What is happening is the ongoing unrest in Khutsong is stopping us from delivering the very services the people say they will not get in the North West – we have the budgets to deliver but they are shooting themselves in the foot," he told IRIN.

Court action

Lawyers for Human Rights are representing the Merafong Demarcation Forum in its bid to have Khutsong's move to North West declared invalid, on the grounds that local residents were not sufficiently consulted about their incorporation into North West.

The LHR's Rudolph Jansen said the legal issues they were taking up were narrow in their scope, but they were following the approach taken by Matatiele municipality last year in the Constitutional Court.

"A principle was set with Matatiele: The government must consult sufficiently with the affected before moving a municipality so the question is whether it did or not. We will also make the point that it is completely irrational to transfer this municipality from Gauteng to the North West.

"The idea that the move will be good because the poorer provinces are going to receive a lot more attention now is nonsense. Gauteng is regarded as a priority by the government and will receive the necessary attention," he said.

A hearing date for the Merafong Demarcation Forum's case in the Constitutional Court has not yet been set.

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Last updated:Wed Jun 6 17:19:13 2007