y Sydney Masinga

Standerton - Calm has been restored in Standerton after the Mpumalanga government was given 24 hours to respond to the service delivery protests in the area.

The situation was turbulent on Tuesday morning when the community of Sakhile township marched to the offices of Lekwa local municipality, burning a community hall, before submitting a memorandum of their grievances to the acting municipal manager Jabu Sindane.

"Amongst our demands, we want all the councillors in that municipality to be fired. We also demand the resignation of all managers, and most of all we want Premier David Mabuza to come and address us in the local stadium.

By Nthambeleni Gabara

Pretoria - The situation in all service delivery hotspots in both Mpumalanga and Gauteng were back to normal on Friday morning.

In Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg the situation is calm as motorists were able to use the William Nicol road which leads through the settlement without any intimidation.

Spokeswoman of the City of Johannesburg, Nkhensani Makhobela told BuaNews the angry protestors stopped throwing stones at passing motorists after the city's chief whip Cllr Nonceba Molwele visited the area yesterday.

"We understand that people have the right to spare their views, but that should not be done by destroying property and putting other people's lives at risk," Makhobela said.

Police spokesperson of the Katlehong cluster Lindelani Dladla said the situation at Eden Park, Greenfield and Palm Ridge, where a house of Ekurhuleni ward councillor, Nkabi Zulu was set alight, had been calm since Wednesday.

"Although the situation is calm, we will continue to monitor the situation and maintain heavy presence in the area," she said.

Nigeria: Kano Emir Decries Power, Water Shortage, Insecurity - Apparently dissatisfied with the level of government's commitment in providing basic social amenities such as electricity, potable water and security, the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero, has passed a vote of no confidence on the government in these vital sectors. [AA Urbanisation]

South Africa: Dissatisfaction With Service Delivery Increasing - Survey - DISSATISFACTION with service delivery has increased among South African households since 2002, a survey showed yesterday, even though the number of people on welfare has more than tripled to 13,7% of the population. [AA Urbanisation]

Nigeria: Oke-Ogbe Community Cries Over Neglect - Indigenes and residents of Oke-Ogbe Community in Olorunda Local Council Development Area are lamenting over the neglect by the Lagos State government in the provision of social amenities to the area.They are particularly not happy over the state of their roads despite the tremendous efforts the government is doing in the area of road construction. They however appealed to the government to construct their road which is usually overtaken by gullies and flood whenever it rains. [AA Construction]

South Africa: New 'Delivery Unit' Will Keep a Watch On Faltering Councils - THE government was setting up a delivery unit in the Presidency to prop up faltering municipalities, Collins Chabane, the minister responsible for monitoring and evaluation in the Presidency, said last night. [AA Urbanisation]

South Africa: Residents Barricade Streets in Service Protest - Thokoza Township in the East Rand on Wednesday morning remained calm following the outbreak of a violent service delivery protest march on Tuesday. [AA Urbanisation]

South Africa: Housing, Social Services Protests Turn Violent - Protesters have again brought violence to township streets throughout South Africa over state failure to deliver on longstanding promises of housing and social services for all, but the discontent and frustration run much deeper. [AA Urbanisation]

By Nthambeleni Gabara

Pretoria - Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Sicelo Shiceka, is visiting Mpumalanga this morning, to assess the situation on the ground and get a report from a Task Team that was set up in response to recent service delivery protests.

Last Friday, a high level delegation of department officials was dispatched to investigate the concerns of the community and devise a turn-around strategy in response to the issues raised.

Ministerial Liaison Officer, Vuyelwa Qinga Vika, on Thursday confirmed to BuaNews that Mr Shiceka was on his way to Mpumalanga to receive a report from the task team. The department was expected to release a statement on the visit, later in the day.
The country has been rocked by service delivery protests in recent weeks.

Minister Shiceka, in an interview with 702 Talk Radio on Thursday, said the displeasure shown by communities could be attributed to the poor communication by local government to the people.

"Ward councillors in certain areas are not reporting to the people, while municipalities' are not really doing what they are supposed to be doing in terms of communicating with people."

Thokoza - Ekurhuleni Mayor, Ntombi Mekgwe, is expected to engage with the Thokoza community to discuss the violence which broke out there, on Tuesday.

"The mayor will engage the community. We take the issues that they raise seriously and will be making an effort to engage them," said Sam Modiba, acting spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni Municipality.

He said the meeting would take place as a matter of urgency. "It is an urgent meeting and it cannot be prolonged any longer."

The municipality was monitoring the situation, Mr Mekgwe added.

At least 17 people were arrested after residents of the Thokoza Hostel embarked on a march to the municipal offices in Khumalo Street at around 4.30am.

Speaking to BuaNews, police spokesperson Captain Godfrey Maditsi said protesters had blockaded Khumalo and Serema Streets with tyres, rocks and rubbish. An unknown number of cars had also been pelted with stones.

"They were protesting over poor service delivery," said Captain Maditsi, who added that no injuries had been reported.

South Africa: Urgent Messages in the Clattering Stones of Delivery Protests - WEEK-long protests by residents of Diepsloot, north of Johannesburg, over the allocation of housing further heat up an otherwise cold winter plagued by often violent service delivery protests. [AA Urbanisation]

Zimbabwe: Harare City Councillors Hit Back - Harare City councillors hit back at people accusing them of being of a "low calibre" because "over half of them have more than five Ordinary Level subjects" and they are therefore "over-qualified" for the job. [AA Urbanisation]

Zimbabwe: Ruwa Residents Get Water After Two Years - RUWA residents, who had been without water for nearly two years, last Friday finally had water supplies restored to them after the local board resumed works at its water treatment plant. [AA Urbanisation]

Mozambique: Maputo Residents to Have Piped Gas By 2012 - Natural gas from the Temane and Pande gas fields, in the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane, is to be piped to homes in Maputo city and the surrounding area by 2012 as part of a government programme to expand the number of users of this natural resource. [AA Urbanisation]

Zimbabwe: 2,000 Stands Created - CHITUNGWIZA Municipality has created 2 000 more stands in Nyatsime which it will sell to raise money to service the stands it sold 12 years ago to prospective house owners in the same area. [AA Construction]