Siphelele Nketo
HOPE Street in the Kokstad town of KwaZulu-Natal was brought to a halt on Wednesday, July 22, as members of the ANC marched to hand over a memorandum to the Greater Kokstad Municipality.
The ANC Kokstad sub-regional members raised concerns over constant criminal activities affecting communities. They mentioned incidents of missing children as something that needed urgent intervention, not only by the authorities but by the community at large. The party called for a police special unit to specifically deal with the scourge of missing children.
In February this year Lathitha Mtolo (7) was reported missing. Another child, Ndalo Jona (7), was reported missing this month. Both Ndalo and Lathitha are from the Marikana informal settlement. The ANC appealed to parents to safeguard children. Amongst the grievances raised in the memorandum was the influx of illegal foreign nationals in South Africa. The party called for the municipality of Kokstad to immediately act against illegal foreign nationals by conducting raids in both township areas and the CBD. Reading the memorandum in front of the municipal building on Hope Street, the party’s Kokstad sub-regional convenor Stone Nondize mentioned drug usage and the sale of drugs as concerns that require serious intervention.
“We call upon the community to rally behind the vision of taking Kokstad to its former glory,” he stated.
Receiving the memorandum, Kokstad mayor Lwanda Madikizela said some of the concerns raised in the memorandum required responses from the National Prosecuting Authority and SAPS. He condemned incidents of missing children and said that the municipality will engage SAPS to look into the matter. He said the municipality supports the deportation of illegal foreign nationals, saying that it would shut down spaza shops owned by foreign nationals who do not have legal documents.
He committed himself to strengthening bylaws to clamp down on illegal activities, in partnership with SAPS. Meanwhile, the ANC has applauded the municipality for its recent recognition as the province’s best-performing municipality in financial management and governance.
