The community of Pomeroy in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands has made another giant step into being a standalone municipality - away from the IFP-led uMsinga Local Municipality which is facing service delivery and water challenges.
This comes after the Municipal Demarcation Board (MBD) on Friday ruled that the formation of the municipality should go to the investigation stage - public hearings.
The new municipality will take wards from uMsinga, Umvoti (Greytown) and Nkandla local municipalities and it will be named after Solomon Linda, the man famous for the Mbube song.
NEWS: The people of Pomeroy in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands have made another giant step into being a standalone municipality - away from the IFP-led Umsinga local municipality which is facing service delivery and water challenges. This comes after the Municipal Demarcation Board
— Sihle Mavuso (@ZANewsFlash) August 4, 2023
In a statement, the demarcation board said from August to October 2023 it would conduct nationwide public consultations for identified cases in line with Circular 2 of 2023 and formal investigations for identified cases in line with Circular 3 of 2023.
“In essence, no eligible cases will be dismissed or finalised without either conducting public consultations or formal investigations to obtain views and representations for the proposals under review.
“It should be noted that the objectives and criteria for demarcation in conjunction with the public views and representations will inform the final decision of the Board,” it said in a statement on Friday after releasing the list of cases to be investigated.
It added that members of the public in affected areas should actively participate in the meetings to air their views.
“The MDB reiterates that boundary changes are not a solution to the governance, socio-economic, service delivery, administrative and financial dysfunctionality in municipalities,” it added.
Last week the community of Pomeroy marched and demanded that the board speed up the process to split them from uMsinga.
Despite the call to split Pomeroy from uMsinga, some claim the new municipality will not be viable and should be shelved.
However, Andrew Jhilmeet chairperson Pomeroy Development Committee said that argument is lame and they have the resources to have a stable and prosperous municipality away from uMsinga.
“Let me first address the issue of those opposing. On record, we have a municipality that is 2,500km squared which is uMsinga Local Municipality and 21 wards with a population of 188,000 (re: uMsinga IDP 2023).
“With that in mind let's place facts the uMmsinga municipality is a category B municipality dependent on grants, since 2000 when it was established it has failed to deliver basic services to the only proclaimed town Pomeroy (Solomon Linda),” he said.
He added that the way uMsinga is challenged, even the shopping complex recently built in the town is dependent on borehole water and the sewer system which was built by what was then termed Umsekeli (township board) and has never been maintained nor improved.
“It is then our collective input that due to the size and population of the municipality it is necessary for a split in this area in order for better management.
“It is sacrosanct to split as this will deliver the necessary service delivery initiatives enshrined in chapter 2 of the RSA Constitution and other relevant acts based on human rights.
The final decision about the matter is expected in January 2024, two years before the next local government elections.
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