adminResidents said they do not want the church to build the school and vowed to confront the Minister of Local Government, Urban and Rural Development Dr Ignatius Chombo over the matter.
Residents complained about the procedure that was followed, as they suspect that the stand was corruptly allocated.
Residents said they were not consulted, as beneficiaries of the project.
They resolved that Guta Ramwari should not construct the school in their area.
Speaking during the meeting organised by the Tshabalala Residents’ Association, residents said they would not afford to pay fees since the church is planning to build a private school.
“We do not want a private school, we want a community school.
“Most of our children are now graduates and they attended public schools. We will not afford to pay schools fees for this private school,” said a resident.
Another resident who preferred to be called MaSibanda said the church has no other school under its name hence they do not want it to come and “experiment” in their area.
“We have never heard of a school that is being run by Guta Ramwari so why do they want to come and start it here? We want to confront Dr Chombo over this issue,” she said.
Mr Rueben Matengu who is the councillor for Ward 21, which covers Tshabalala, said the church was allocated the stand after fulfilling all the council requirements.
“As far as I know the church followed the required procedures. I supported the idea because I think it was something positive for our community,” said Clr Matengu.
An official from Guta Ramwari present in the meeting said they followed the required procedures and he did not understand why the residents were against the project.
“The city council gave us the stand and we followed all the required procedures. The residents were notified about our intentions,” said the official.
The organising secretary for residents Mr Lungelwe Mkwananzi said they wanted transparency. He accused the councillor of not updating them on the issue.
“Residents have said no to this project. We want to go and see those people who are said to have signed.
“The councillor knew about this thing, but he never told us. We asked him sometime back and he said if the church comes and builds anything else besides the school we should refuse,” said Mr Mkwananzi.
The site was reserved for constructing a secondary school. Pupils in Tshabalala are going to schools in Nkulumane, Sizinda and other areas.
Online Reporter