South Africa has made strides in integrating immigrants into local communities. The country is home to an estimated 2.4 million to 3.1 million foreign-born residents. This represents roughly 4% to 5.1% of the total population. Acceptance of immigrants as neighbours in the neighbourhoods where they live and work is, however, not a given. Suspicion and tensions between locals and immigrants remain common. Evidence of this was the sharp surge in xenophobic violence and anti-immigrant protests in …
Community
“It Is Our Time” Manifesto Launch Provides Direction Through Practical Solutions for Local Government
Local government can be restored and municipalities’ decline can be turned around. This is the gist of the message conveyed by the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) with its Manifesto Launch under the theme “It is Our Time”. (Manifesto attached) The Manifesto, which was unveiled at the Silver Lakes Farm Hotel in Pretoria East, marks a new beginning and provides practical solutions to restore local government, uplift communities and offer them hope for the future. The Freedom Front Plus’s theme …
Tshwane Could Do More to Boost Community Projects
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) commends the communities who have rolled up their sleeves and taken it upon themselves to maintain and gentrify their neighbourhoods under the Tshwane Metro Council’s community upliftment initiative, however, the current administration needs to provide more guidance. This upliftment model’s objective is to empower communities by allowing groups, individuals and businesses to maintain council property such as streetlights, road signs and parks, and to install …
Settlement Between Tshwane and Kleinfontein Welcomed
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) welcomes the settlement reached between Kleinfontein Share Block and the Tshwane Metro, which has just been confirmed by the High Court in Pretoria and made an order of court. These developments mark the end of a to-and-fro legal battle in the courts between the community and the Metro after yet another ruling was made against Kleinfontein two years ago regarding the fact that the process of formalising Kleinfontein into a town had not yet been properly …
Lessons from South Africa on how parks and community gardens can help cities adapt to climate change
Climate change is affecting cities more and more. This creates major challenges, but it also gives fast-growing cities, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the chance to adapt to global warming in new and better ways. Cities rely on roads, pipes and flood barriers to work well when a climate disaster strikes. This is physical infrastructure. But they also rely heavily on social infrastructure. This is the public spaces, relationships, and community networks that help people connect, organise and …
Tshwane Residents Increasingly Targeted
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) in the Tshwane Metro is increasingly receiving complaints from residents facing unfair fines and alleged intimidation. Numerous homeowners are hit with fines of up to R75 000 for allegedly tampering with prepaid electricity meters. In many cases, residents claim that these fines are unfounded and legally questionable. According to information provided to the Freedom Front Plus, there is a disturbing pattern: When residents report power problems, technicians …
Groenkloof Petition Against Cable Theft
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) met with community leaders in Groenkloof yesterday and assisted them in drafting an urgent petition to the Tshwane Metro. This follows two weeks of constant power outages in the area as a result of cable theft. The petition focuses on the area along the UNISA fence near the Fountains Circle, where cables are frequently stolen. The steep hill is overgrown with tall grass, weeds and bushes that provide sufficient cover for criminals. Despite several requests, the …
Special Tribunal Freezes Two Properties Bought With Lottery Funds
Funds from a R13-million National Lotteries Commission grant for an agricultural project were used to buy homes for directors of non-profit organisations. Funds from a R13-million National Lotteries Commission (NLC) grant for an agricultural project to benefit 1,900 unemployed people were used to buy homes for directors of non-profit organisations. The Special Investigating Unit has now issued a preservation order freezing two of these properties. The funds paid to non-profit Malusi WeSizwe …
Plans to Develop Sokhulumi Region Easier Said Than Done
The Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) warned the Tshwane Metro that the proposed development of the Sokhulumi region near Bronkhorstspruit, as outlined in its Integrated Development Plan (IDP), cannot proceed without the provision of adequate infrastructure and service delivery. The expansion of agriculture, job creation, and the provision of proper housing and community amenities such as sports facilities could have a positive impact – provided it is implemented with discipline, aligned to fiscal …
City of Tshwane Must Comply With 2019 Court Order
The ongoing water crisis affecting the Rooiwal area will be driven to a head now that the Freedom Front Plus (VF Plus) has stepped in. The party has undertaken to provide legal assistance to Mr Theuns Vogel, a local farmer, in order to compel the City of Tshwane to comply with a 2019 court order. The lawsuit revolves around the Metro’s continued failure to comply with the 2019 court order instructing it to urgently upgrade the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works, stop dumping untreated sewage …