Musina residents demand 85% employment of locals
Musina community members took to the streets on Friday, demanding jobs and business opportunities for local entrepreneurs.
They also called for the water authority to be brought back to Musina.
The residents marched to the area’s Emergency Services offices; the department of Home Affairs; De Beers, local hospital, SAPS offices, Raubex construction group and the Musina Mall, among other organisations.
“We demand 85% local employment (we demand proof of employment from each store), such proof should be accompanied by proof of resident. We demand proof for social responsibility, how much did your company contribute in terms of social responsibility,” their memorandum reads.
The locals also want CVs for new shop vacancies submitted to them for verification purposes before interviews are conducted.
Musina Residents Chairperson Freedom Boikanyo says they also want Musina Mall to explain why most of the shops brought in managers from outside the area, despite promises that the mall was created to create work for locals.
“Why do Musina people hold casual jobs? Why did the Musina Mall hire an outside security company while the local community has many security companies? What has Musina Mall done to date in terms of social responsibility?”
At the EMS, they submitted their list of demands to the area manager. They want to know, among others, why residents are being referred to Polokwane when calling for help. They also demanded that ambulance drivers be local residents as they know Musina well.
They accuse De Beers of awarding Raubex a tender to build a new tarred road without advertising.
“Why did the company not use this as an opportunity to empower local contractors rather than a well-established company? Why did you start with a road that the community hardly uses/,” they ask in their list of demands.
The residents also demanding the reinforcement of the police force in the area.
At Home Affairs, they asked for investigations into allegations of foreign nationals being awarded South African Identity Documents (ID).
They have given the companies seven days to respond to their demands.