Soweto applying to be declared a municipality

With a large population living in an economically viable environment, Soweto has all the merits of a local municipality and should, therefore, be declared one.

This is the view that the Hola Bon Renaissance (HBR) Foundation presented in their application to the Municipal Demarcation Board to have the historic Joburg township declared a local municipality. This, they argue, will "allow it to focus on its more than 1 million people and their specific needs".

Chairman Preddy Mothopeng described HBR as "a non-political and non-governmental organisation with a vision of creating communities that are skilled and self-sustained with a central economic opportunity".

The organisation, in conjunction with Mzansi Youth Business in Coalition on Opportunities, handed in their application in Pretoria on Friday.

In the application, the applicants request that the demarcation board declare Soweto a local municipality under the City of Joburg Metro.

It was proposed in the application that the Soweto local municipality cover Roodepoort and Florida, "in order to balance the demographics of a municipality".

Applicants said declaring Soweto a local municipality would help it to focus economic development to deal with unemployment and to improve the healthcare system, education, SMME opportunities and economic growth.

In a brief summary of their application, Mothopeng said Soweto was the most populous black urban residential area in the country, with a population of more than a million.

"It is setting trends in politics, fashion, music, dance and language? The perennial problems of Soweto have since its inception included poor housing, water drainage, overcrowding, high unemployment and poor infrastructure," he said.

According to the application, Soweto has an area covering 150km2 and 305 000 households, with an average of 4.2 people per household.

"Soweto makes up 43 percent of the City of Joburg's population, with approximately 2 000 people per km2 population density, compared to 520 people per km2 for Gauteng, already 14 times higher that the national average," Mothopeng said.

He said Sowetans spent about R4.2bn on retail goods alone, and generally spent R8.9bn annually, while the township formed 3 percent of the city's retail floor space.

With all these, Mothopeng said, Soweto had all that |it takes to "reclaim its dignity" and become a local municipality.

"This will work to the advantage of the residents and the township itself, as the local municipality will be able to focus on and pay special attention to infrastructural and economic development, and job creation, among others."

Municipal demarcation board chair Landiwe Mahlangu has acknowledged receiving the application last Friday.

The Star

Posted at 07:17AM Oct 19, 2010 by Editor in Cities and Towns  |  Comments[4]