The delivery of houses in Mangaung township in the Free State is being delayed because of construction material theft, ANC Chief Whip Mathole Motshekga said on Tuesday.
This was one of the complaints from ANC leaders and councillors in the township who met with Motshekga.
“The meeting discussed some of the critical challenges facing the township, which include the slow response to service delivery issues by municipal officials,” Motshekga said in a statement.
“Local ANC leaders and councillors lamented the spate of construction material theft, which impacted on the speedy delivery of houses and the quality thereof.”
Motshekga said the ageing infrastructure in the area needed to be repaired immediately.
The management and capacity of parliamentary constituency offices had to be strengthened to play a central role in addressing challenges faced by communities.
The meeting was part of the ANC caucus visits to provinces to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of parliamentary constituency offices.
It was decided that a Privy Council Office (PCO) management committee should be established in the area, said Motshekga.
The PCO committee had to develop programmes that would respond to community needs and had to ensure that the PCO was functional, he said.
“The management committee should ensure that local people's assemblies are convened regularly to give feed-back to communities about issues they have raised,” said Motshekga.
Public representatives had to respect the committee and abide by its directives.
Motshekga would also meet with community members in Bloemfontein, Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu later on Tuesday. – Sapa