By Puisano News Reporter
It’s a done deal. The town of Heilbron and its surrounding areas will fall under Metsimaholo Local Municipality. It will no longer be part of Ngwathe Local Municipality.
Metsimaholo Local Municipality is currently formed of three towns, namely – Sasolburg, Deneysville and Oranjeville. With this new addition, it will be consisting of four towns.
According to the Municipal Dermacation Board (MDB) this will happen either before or after the date of the next Local Government Elections in 2026.
The news were announced by the MDB’s Thabiso Plank during a feedback meeting with the Metsimaholo municipality, political and administrative leadership, municipal officials, stakeholders and members of the community at the Council Foyer, Civic Centre in Sasolburg.
Present to also confirm this latest development was MDB Chairperson, Thabo Manyoni. “Heilbron will now be part of Metsimaholo Municipality and that decision is not of the MDB but by all affected stakeholders and the community in these two municipal areas, namely Ngwathe Local Municipality and Metsimaholo Local Municipality,” he said.
Manyoni indicated that extensive consultations were conducted with all those affected by this process to come to their final decision as a board to incorporate Heilbron and surrounding areas into Metsimaholo. Only three objections were received by the MDB.
MBD is an independent authority responsible for the determination of municipal boundaries. The Board’s status as an independent authority is also protected by section 3 of The Local Government: Municipal Demarcation Act, 1998, and various judgments by the Constitutional Court.
Manyoni also indicated that the incorporation of Heilbron into Metsimaholo is not an event but a process and it will take time and that stakeholders and the community must prepare themselves for the incorporation.
The role of Stakeholders and the public following publication of the Board Decision is as follows: The Office of the MEC COGTA, to facilitate the publication of the date of effect bases on the IECs publication in terms of section 23(2) of the MDB. The two affected municipalities need to inform all the stakeholders including the communities about the new municipal boundaries and the date of the effect published by the MEC of COGTA.
