Legislature must cancel recess to save Pilgrim's Rest
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Mpumalanga has made an urgent appeal to the Speaker of the legislature to cancel recess so that the province can debate how to save the town of Pilgrim's Rest from shutting down on 31 July (see Citizen report).
In the letter to the Speaker, the DA has also asked that Public Works MEC, Dikeledi Mahlangu, be summoned back from France to deal with the imminent crisis being caused by her Department.
Public Works has awarded the majority of 21 business leases for core premises in the small tourist town to individuals or companies with no capital, business plan or knowledge of the town.
This means that the economic heart of the town is facing imminent collapse if the situation is not rectified within two weeks.
If the town shuts down on 31 July, hundreds of jobs will be lost. Businesses have already had to submit notices of retrenchment to their workers because Public Works failed to guarantee their job security when the leases were awarded.