Guarding residents’ interests

With the influx of new business and mining opportunities in and around the Mokopane area, several community groups decided to merge into one strong organisation to ensure that the benefits of these investments reach ground level.
“The idea behind the formation of the Mahwelereng Residents Association (MRA) is to further the interests of the residents of this town,” explains MRA secretary Jeffrey Kgonyane. “We are a non-political organisation which aims to work with mining companies, government and key community players.”
MRA spokesperson, Thintha Mokhonoana explains that the MRA was founded in April 2014 by the late Madimetja Piet Pale, Godfrey Molekwa, Jeffrey Kgonyane and Mokhonoana after meeting with various non-profit organisations, non-government organisations and other community leaders.
Kgonyane explains that the MRA is the merging of various interests groups and community watchdogs, including the following bodies:
- Mokopane Interested Affected Community Committee (active in the mining sector)
- Landless Crisis Committee (deals with
traditional leaders)
- Mokopane Community Organisation (active in the education and sports arena)
- Bakenberg Concerned Community (a watchdog with regards to hospitals)
- Mapela Concerned Group
The aim of the MRA is ensure that the social responsibility programmes filter down to ground level, Kgonyane explained, adding that the association is recruiting ward residents to strengthen each ward with regards to representation of the MRA. “We can only engage business at large to force them to implement their social responsibility programmes properly if we the mandate of the residents,” he says.
The MRA has been in the news recently when Pale was shot down on 28 June 2014 in what is suspected to be an assassination. Pale led successful marches as a leader of the Mahwelereng community forum which raised issues of service delivery and the role of some members of the council with regards to the mining community. He played a key role in the establishing of the MRA which eventually secured a court interdict against the then-MEC for CoGHSTA, Ishmael Kgetjepe, on the implementation of Section 139.1(b) to place the municipality under administration.
For information about the MRA, contact Mokhonoana on cel: 083 526 3929.