Newsletter 41 – Standerton blaze - 2 October 2009
The Sakhile township near Standerton in the Lekwa Local Municipality in Mpumalanga is the latest one to have residents protest against their local government. They barricaded roads with rocks, burnt tyres, and even set the Sakhile library and community hall alight on Monday 28th September 2009. During the preceding weekend, residents petrol bombed a municipal official’s house and also burnt municipal offices. Data (for 2007) obtained by the Municipal Outreach Project shows considerable poverty challenges in the municipality.
With a population of just over 103 000 and 26 000 households, the municipality covers an area of 4 586 square kilometres on the Mpumalanga Highveld.
Some 30% of households in Lekwa live in informal dwellings – that is almost a third of them. Some 10% of households do not have access to water services from the municipality. Only 36% of households have access to water inside their houses. About 18% do not have access to sanitation services, while 24% of households use pit or bucket latrines. Some 25% do not have access to electricity. A third of households in Lekwa (33%) use candles for lighting in 2007.
The unemployment rate in the municipality is 18%. The unemployment rate alone seems better than in most parts of the country, but the proportion of the population that is not economically active is 33%. This means that many people do not meet the criteria to be defined as unemployed by Statistics South Africa even though they are without work (see newsletter 38).
Some 16% of households do not have an income in 2007. Some 40% of households have monthly incomes between R400 and R800. Only 19% of households in Lekwa have monthly incomes above R6 400. The poverty rate (defined as the proportion of households with monthly incomes below R800) in the Lekwa Local Municipality is 43.8% in 2007 - below the average of 53.0% for the Gert Sibande District Municipality in which Lekwa is situated, along with six other local municipalities.
Minibus taxis, which are more expensive than buses and trains, are the only form of public transport in the municipality. This makes it difficult for people to get to places of work in nearby towns (such as Secunda, Balfour, and Ermelo) and in neighbouring provinces such as Gauteng.
While the main reason cited for the current protest in the area is corruption by officials and councillors, it is clear that service delivery and high levels of poverty are at the core of the challenges in the municipality.
The Municipal Outreach Project aims to provide extensive research to municipalities covered by the project. This will be done by means of publications, the project website, and workshops. A monthly publication called Fast Facts for Local Government (F3LG) is sent to local councillors, officials, and development organisations in the eight municipalities covered by the project. A weekly newsletter is posted on the project website on Fridays, and e-mailed to project beneficiaries. The annual South Africa Survey, published by the Institute, will be posted to municipalities and extracts posted on the project website.
- Nthamaga Kgafela
by
nkgafela
—
last modified
2009-10-16 15:24
This website has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this
document are the sole responsibility of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty and the South African
Institute of Race Relations and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the
European Union.
