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MATSAPAHA RATEPAYERS: WE WERE SIDELINED

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MANZINI - Matsapha ratepayers are not content with the manner in which the commission of inquiry report matter is being handled.

Steven Motsa, the Chairman of Matsapha Ratepayers Association, revealed to this publication that they were of the view that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development was oppressing them and they were planning an urgent meeting to discuss their next move, going forward. To begin with, the chairman said as an association, they were still waiting to receive something from the ministry regarding the report of the Commission of Inquiry into the affairs of Matsapha Town Council. “We are in the dark on what is happening yet we are the ones who are going to pay the commission,” Motsa said.

He said they were shocked because seemingly, the ministry ,which ordered that the cost of the commission would be borne by ratepayers, was disregarding them when it comes to the report, which they only heard about from the media. “Umoya wetfu uphasi (our spirit is low). In fact, we are shocked because during the submissions, the commissioners addressed us as ratepayers not as residents,” he said. According to the chairman, this meant that they were recognised as an important and formal stakeholder but they wondered why they were not given feedback on what the commission found and recommended. In fact, the chairman said they had a lot of questions for the ministry regarding the matter. He said they believed that the right platform to pose the questions was the long overdue meeting which they were eagerly waiting for where the report would be delivered to them.

“Even though the investigations were done by the commission, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Prince Simelane, has the power to call us after getting the final report from the commissioners and we are impatiently waiting for that gathering,” the chairman said. He added that it would be in this meeting where they would be able to ask questions and further make suggestions on the commission’s recommendations. On that note, Motsa said he was working on calling an urgent meeting of the executive committee to discuss a way forward on the matter since they needed some form of redress. “I reserve most of the comments I have for now,” he said. Motsa emphasised that since they were recognised as an association, they deserved some respect as opposed to being sidelined.

Meanwhile, parliamentarians have questioned whether a minister has power to dismiss an elected candidate or ban people from being elected? This comes after the minister of Housing and Urban Government sacked Matsapha Town Council councillors. The minister did not only sack the councillors, but he also banned them from contesting for local government elections until 2022. Some of the parliamentarians, who asked to share their views on condition of anonymity, said until they did some in-depth research on the Act - which was used by the minister (Urban Government Act of 1969) and the Constitution, they could not openly criticise him. 

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