Boitumelo Tshehle

North West has experienced a spate of protests lately resulting from poor service delivery by local municipalities.

Among the areas where residents have voiced their anger are Wolmarans in Makwassi Hills, Boikhutso in Lichtenburg, Ikageng in Zeerust, Lonely Park in Mafikeng and in Bloemhof.

Protesters submitted memoranda to the MEC for local government and housing, Phenye Vilakazi.

In a speech last year, Vilakazi blamed under-expenditure on both municipal infrastructure grants and the housing delivery programme for poor service delivery in municipalities.

Vilakazi further noted that community participation and communication needed to be enhanced if issues around service delivery were to be improved.

He said: "These protest marches in our province occurred mainly in Tshwane townships, which are part of the North West."

The townships are Ga-Rankuwa, Mabopane, Temba and Winterveldt, where residents were demanding the transfer of houses to them from the North West Housing Corporation."