MAHIKENG is the capital city of North West.
One would expect a clean city with no water problems and no potholes.
But Mahikeng is dirty, the roads are littered with huge potholes and people go for days without water!
Added to that is the growing crime problem, especially for North West University students.
All this happens while the Mahikeng local municipality is wasteful with money.
Recently the provincial Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) held a meeting with the municipality, local government and finance department to account for the R54 million abandoned housing project on land that had been bought illegally.
It is alleged that officials in the municipality sold land to a private buyer for R144 million but issued a title deed after only R5 million was paid.
The company that bought the land soon sold it to another company after filing for bankruptcy, disappearing with R139 million owed to the municipality.
Scopa wanted to know why there was continuous failure to investigate the illegal sale of the land and why no action had been taken against officials who issued a title deed before all the money was received.
Scopa was told that a new agreement to complete the unfinished housing project had been reached and that there were criminal investigations against those responsible for the sale of the land.
Premier Supra Mahumapelo said that as far as potholes and developing the city were concerned, things are turning around.
He said the provincial government should work closely with the municipality because things were not going at the desired pace.
Tourism MEC Desbo Mohono added that cleanliness required communities to play their part and look after their environment.