The DA, Democratic Alliance, is a political party in the Free State. They recently held a gathering to
protest the inadequate services delivered by the Mangaung municipality. The gathering was held in
front of Bloemfontein’s city hall on Wednesday the 30 th of November.
The amount of people present and taking part in the event were around 50 or less. These individuals
were ordinary citizens, along with a few DA employees. Various citizens also volunteered to
represent the DA during this display. They simply donned a DA shirt and held the boards displaying
their message.
The event began at 08:30 AM and only lasted for about 20 minutes. #MyCityBloemfontein was one
of the media agents on site.
Crowd of citizens and volunteers present during the event.
The speakers present were Johan Pretorius and Dave van Vuuren. Dave delivered the main message
they wished to convey. In his speech he addressed the corrupt officials of Mangaung, stating they
should be exposed and held accountable for their actions. Van Vuuren also mentioned various
grievances plaguing the community- frequent loadshedding and absence of water supply. The crowd
eagerly agreed with his sentiments, his call for change.
Van Vuuren provided his own reasoning for the state of Bloemfontein. He mentions that the
municipality is in decay. The officials are no longer as qualified and thus do not possess the
necessary skills to adequately aid the city.
DA employee holding up a board displaying one of their messages. Translation “ DA = chosen
government”
The DA intends to hand over a letter of demands to Manguang. They stated as much when
addressing their crowd.
In their letter they demand:
The Executive Mayor must table the adjustment budget to ensure that there are funds for
service delivery until end of June 2023.
The Executive mayor must instruct the Acting City Manager to immediately start the process
to appoint the ombudsman after numerous council resolutions.
It is crucial to re-appoint the contractors that can assist with drain blockages, stormwater
inlets & repairs, water leaks, pothole repairs and refuse removal.
The Executive Mayor must table a short list of candidates for a city manager with their CV’s
in the next Council meeting and Council needs to appoint the best candidate.
Centlec has to either appoint contractors or buy resources to prune the trees in all the areas
with power cables above ground reducing an estimated 70% of power outages during bad
weather.
Traffic and Law enforcement officers need to be visible on the ground and enforce the by-
laws. The lawlessness must stop and the safety of our residents has to be priority number
one.
Government departments’ debt must be recovered immediately or the departments must
be cut off.
The administration must ensure that the Bloemwater account is paid up to date and that the
Maselspoort water works must be in working order.
Contents of the letter were provided by #MyCityBloemfontein
After speaking with a few of the attendees it was clear that they had hoped for a bigger turn out.
One particular citizen commented that “There can always be more people. People are quick to
complain but rarely show up to do something towards change.”
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