The ANC’s sheer inability to govern the Tokologo local municipality (Boshof, Dealesville and Hertzogville) has caused the farming community in the area millions of rand worth of damage. Unhappy Tokologo residents torched a water tank out of protest and as a result, thousands of hectares were destroyed by the ensuing run-away fires.
Commercial as well as emerging farmers in the area had already suffered severe losses prior to the fires due to the long drought and the current poor economic climate. These farmers will not be able to recover from the millions of rand of damage caused by the fires on their own without government aid.
The FF Plus has sent an official letter to the MEC for Cooperative Governance, Thembeni Nxangisa, requesting that a comprehensive assessment must be conducted as soon as possible to determine the extent of the damage and that the affected area must be declared a disaster area.
The FF Plus welcomes the arrest of nine suspects in connection with the arson and demands that the tenth suspect who is still at large must be apprehended as soon as possible.
The root cause of the damage that the farming community suffered is the failed ANC government as well as the provincial government’s unsuccessful interventions at the relevant municipality. It would, therefore, only be fitting to hold those officials who contributed to residents’ dissatisfaction accountable as well.
The FF Plus demands that the provincial Department of Cooperative Governance must urgently intervene at Tokologo to resolve the absolute lack of service delivery and to prevent any more protest actions.
The FF Plus took the matter even further by sending an official letter to the Minister of Agriculture, Thoko Didiza, requesting the government to provide financial aid to the agricultural community. The damage is the direct result of poor governance and it is unacceptable that farmers themselves or their insurance must pay for it.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Jan van Niekerk on FF Plus
South Africa Today – South Africa News
