Hundreds of people living in Alicedale marched to the town's municipal offices on Monday 1 October, demanding to see the Executive Mayor of Makana.
Hundreds of people living in Alicedale marched to the town's municipal offices on Monday 1 October, demanding to see the Executive Mayor of Makana.
Mayor Zamuxolo Peter and municipal spokesman Mncedisi Boma visited the area to receive a petition from residents listing their grievances.
Alicedale, 25km west of Grahamstown, falls within the Makana Local Municipality.
Protesters said their concerns had been ignored by the municipality for years.
They complained about lack of development in their town and the fact that people have been waiting for houses for more than 12 years.
One resident, Eli Konstant, told Grocott's Mail that the community has been waiting for housing, tarred roads and toilets for a long time.
"People have waited for in excess of 12 years for 300-plus houses, with tornado damage from 2007 still in evidence, and no tarred roads in Transriviere," Konstant wrote in an email.
"Five families [have]to share a filthy and damaged toilet, to name but a few of our valid grievances."
This week Boma confirmed that a march had taken place and said the municipality would respond by the end of the 14-day deadline given by Alicedale residents.
"The problem is that the municipality does not own land in Alicedale and the land that is available belongs to Public Works. The process was delayed because there needs to be a transfer of land to Makana Municipality," Boma said.
He said there had also been complaints about the Alicedale Development Fund.
"People were promised jobs in the development, but instead there were retrenchments and many people lost their jobs.
"The community also said they felt that they were being marginalised and did not feel like they were part of Makana Municipality," Boma said.
The Alicedale Development Fund is a non-profit company.
The South African Companies website describes it as being for "communal public benefit activities" to promote the interests of the residents of Alicedale and its surrounds.
There have been ongoing allegations about mishandling of these funds.
The Mayor, operations manager in the social services directorate Pumzile Simayile and Boma signed the memorandum from the community.
Boma said this week that the municipality would meet with the Women's League, which led the march, and they would address the community within the stipulated deadline.
