Khutsong residents may have to cast their votes in North West if Parliament does not timeously finalise legislation facilitating the township’s relocation to Gauteng, MPs heard on Wednesday.
Briefing the National Assembly’s joint committee dealing with cross-boundary legislation, provincial and local government department executive manager Myron Peter said it was important for MPs to conclude the matter before elections were held.
”The intention was to get the process completed before the election and ensure that they vote in Gauteng,” he said.
In 2005, a government decision to redraft the boundary between Gauteng and North West province saw Merafong municipality incorporating Khutsong township, so it fell under the jurisdiction of the North West provincial government.
However, the decision was met with protests, with residents taking to the streets complaining that the decision would affect their standard of living as the North West government was less efficient in service delivery than the Gauteng government.
The protest led to the new Minister of Provincial and Local Government Sicelo Shiceka announcing in 2008 that the government would reverse its 2005 decision.
However, committee chairperson Yunis Carrim on Wednesday cautioned against ”rushing” the measure without proper consideration to the ”wider implications” that might accompany such a move.
Treasury had already informed the department that the 2009/10 budgeting process had already reached an advanced stage and that it would be impossible to make adjustments to accommodate the relocation.
This meant that a portion of funds allocated by Treasury to the North West provincial government to cater for Merafong Municipality residents for the 2009/10 financial year could not be re-routed to the Gauteng provincial government.
”We need to be satisfied that we have exhausted the wider implications of these changes,” Carrim said. — Sapa