Hon. Tebogo Modise presided over the processing of the petitions from the Bojanala district at Moses Kotane Municipal Chamber, Moses Kotane Local Municipality (Mogwase).

The Standing Committee on Legislative Review and Implementation of House Resolutions chaired by Chairperson of Committees, Hon. Tebogo Modise presided over the processing of the petitions from the Bojanala district at Moses Kotane Municipal Chamber, Moses Kotane Local Municipality (Mogwase). The meeting was held with petitioners, Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Department of Community Safety and Transport Management and South African Police Services.

The following petitions were processed;

1) Petition 235 (10/07/2024)

The petitioners who are the senior citizens of Batlhako ba Motutu in Mabeskraal sent a petition about poor service delivery and maladministration at the traditional council of Kgosi M.E Mabe of Batlhako baga Motutu.
The Committee informed the petitioners that after consulting the North West House of Traditional and Khoisan Leadership and further analyses of the petition, the House stated that the matter is still before the Courts including law enforcement agencies and it is Sub Judicare. Hon. Modise said the Committee will make follow-ups with relevant authorities to receive a progress report and consult them.

“We will also enquire about why the matter has been dragging since 2013 without any proper progress, and will also send our research unit to investigate other matters within the petition and refer back to the petitioners in due course,” said Hon. Modise.
MEC for the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs, Gaoage Molapisi informed the Committee and the petitioners that the department will also intensify its investigations on the matter. “We will analyse all the concerns raised on the petition and urge the law enforcement agencies to present a progress report on all investigations. The department will also make follow-up meetings with all concerned parties so as to find possible solution that can resolve challenges experienced,” said MEC Molapisi.

2) Petition 179 (28 May 2021): Rustenburg Long Distance Transport Holdings

The follow-up meeting was to receive a presentation of the South African Police Services regarding matters raised on the petition of the Rustenburg Long Distance Transport Solution. Amongst others, the petitioners wrote a petition to the Committee raising various issues concerning challenges within the Rustenburg Transport Services. They informed the Committee that there has been various transgressions within the taxi industry in Rustenburg and in local and provincial sphere of government such as the mushrooming of fake operating licenses; oversaturated industry where illegal taxis encroach into legal routes from illegal taxi ranks; local tax associations exiting the taxi businesses to join the Rustenburg Bus Rapid Transport System thus affecting the long distance transport, and sporadic killings of some association executives without any arrests from the South African Police Service.

Furthermore, the petitioners informed the Committee that there have been communication constraints between the department and various taxi associations and representatives and allegations that certain Traffic and South African Police Services members are also involved on the taxi business which creating conflict of interest. They also said more than 60 taxis from the Rustenburg Local and Long-Distance Transport Association who are restricted from operating due to various reasons such as extortion syndicates and continuous interruptions of the operating licensing administration systems.

North West Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena informed the Committee that there have been various developments on cases such as murder, extortion in the taxi industry and illegal mining in Rustenburg. “There have been arrests on the seven cases reported where else in some instances suspects are also murdered and cases had to be withdrawn in courts. We have also informed the bereaved families on developments on the mentioned cases,” said Lt General Kwena.

He also said the South African Police Services is working with various stakeholders such as the local municipalities and private security companies to stop illegal mining activities in various mining towns such as Rustenburg, Klerksdorp and Orkney. “We have also conducted operations such as Trans-Kalahari Operation between South Africa, Botswana and Namibia where suspects have been arrested with illegal weapons and mining machinery,” said Lt General Kwena.

A petition may be a single, association, collective or mass/group petition(s) which is or are submission(s) concerning a particular complaints or requests. The petition may address matters relating to the Legislative or Executive Authority, and to the provincial supervision of the local government contemplated in Section 139 of the Constitution. It may be done as a single, association, collective, group or mass complaint or a request. It may be submitted through the Office of the Speaker via mail; personal delivery to the offices of the Legislature; website; email address or through a Member of the Legislature. It will then be submitted to the Administrative Support Services for further processing and after careful consideration and found to be admissible, it will be prepared for consideration by the particular Select or Portfolio Committee of the Legislature within 30 working days.