/ 16 July 1997

Bushbuckridge: ‘Future still uncertain’

WEDNESDAY, 3.00PM

THE Bushbuckridge Border Committee, the organisation which has been articulating the community’s demands in the acrimonious provincial border dispute in the area, on Wednesday refused to comment on a compromise proposal aimed at solving the border dispute, despite ostensibly being one of the parties to the agreement.

On Tuesday Constitutional Affairs Minister Mohamed Valli Moosa announced a compromise proposal in which Bushbuckridge will remain in Northern Province while certain government functions will be taken over by Mpumalanga on an agency basis.

Bushbuckridge Border Committee chairman Enos Maunye said on Wednesday the committee will have to study the full report and recommendations before a decision on whether to withdraw or continue the court challenge to government’s decision not to incorporate the area into Mpumalanga. The committee was mandated by the residents to take the government to court for failing to implement an earlier promise to incorporate Bushbuckridge into Mpumapanga. The committee last week said it would not be satisfied with anything less than total incorporation into Mpumalanga.