The newly-elected leaders at the AmaXesibe Traditional Council of South Africa have vowed to hit the ground running.
Iinkosi from all the Khayelitsha wards were announced on Saturday, February 25, and introduced to the public at the meeting in Site C.
The Western house of the AmaXesibe briefed the newly-elected 13 chiefs on the services they should render and the challenges they will face along the way.
The event was also supposed to brief the local councillors on what the traditional chiefs need, but this did not happen due to misunderstandings and non-attendance of councillors.
Senior principal chief Hoza Aah! Laduma! Mali said the leaders are going to be divided according to their areas and wards.
Chief Mali warned his chiefs to work to improve service delivery and people’s lives.
He said it was about time that traditional leaders take their place in the community and ensure services are delivered in a fair and equitable manner. He urged them to raise their voices so as to be heard by the government.
“We have been nice to the government about our role and that of local councillors. We need to exercise our power now and force the way forward. I thought today we were going to talk with our councillors and see where and how we can work together to better the lives of people. But for some reason they are not here. But the show has to go on,” he said.
The leaders will work together with the local councillors responsible for services to ensure that services are delivered. Chief Mali said a large proportion of residents are unemployed and Khayelitsha is characterised by high crime. “Our people are killing each other but the government has abandoned us. The people that we voted to power are looking away while young people are dying. Since democracy, when the government talks about children’s rights, parents stopped disciplining their children. Now it is pandemonium. I guess white people are rejoicing saying we do not know what we fought for.”
Chief Mali shared his disappointment that councillors were not in the meeting to hear them out. He said they were going to appeal to them to involve them and work with them, but he stressed that everyone needs to get employment irrespective of his or her political affiliation.
The chiefs expressed concern over the councillor’s response not to attend the event. The chiefs said this is what people are getting, a raw deal after voting people to power.
But in attendance was a mayoral committee member for energy and climate, Phindile Maxithi.
Mr Maxithi said he was in support of the chiefs but could not say who is legitimate or not. He commended the chiefs for coming together and discussing what they want and need. He said he knows the challenges of the chiefs in the province but they are not the municipality’s responsibility but that of the national government.
Mr Maxithi also raised concern over who gets jobs in Khayelitsha, in particular in Site C. He said certain people are given jobs and those people need to be in a certain political party. “Employment has become political in Site C. You have to belong to a certain party for you to get a job. That should be stopped and everyone gets a job. We elect people to lead us but they turn out to be oppressors. We give them responsibility but they disappoint us,” he said.
The chiefs are to meet soon to work a way forward.