The group has now marched twice to the Department of Small Business Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (Destea) over alleged fraud and corruption at the department. Chairperson of the forum, Potso Motoko, says they demand to see a list of Covid-19 stimulus packages citing mass corruption at the department.  Motoko alleges that friends of MEC Makalo Mohale are beneficiaries of the government stimulus packages whilst ordinary small businesses were left to die due to no funding. 

The Head of the Department, Mbulelo Nokwequ, has since again accepted the memorandum on MEC Mohale's behalf, a few months after the protest march in 2021.

A large number of residents came out in their numbers on Wednesday and marched through the streets of Mangaung to highlight the plight of residents. Residents were hoping to be addressed by MEC Mohale but to their disappointment, they were informed that the MEC was not around the building.

Residents are expected to be in town for three days with a night vigil expected to take place Wednesday night, with a possible shutdown looming if things do not go according to their wishes.

Whilst marching through the streets of Mangaung, they did so under heavy police presence as the law enforcement agencies, including traffic officials and police, kept a watchful eye.

However, Motoko previously told OFM News that he feels residents have been neglected by the embattled Mangaung Metro Municipality. Motoko said the forum has on countless occasions engaged with political leaders and the powers-that-be about ailing service delivery across towns in the troubled metro with no viable solutions to date.

He further told OFM News that the forum has gone out of its way to seek the attention of President Cyril Ramphosa, whilst overlooking Premier Sisi Ntombela, and MEC for Cooperative Governance (Cogta), Mxolisi Dukwana, citing failure to address these issues. Potso added that they are hell-bent on making sure that they deal with the pertinent issue which affects the poor and residents who have been left to live in squalor.

OFM News