After experiencing water and electricity interruptions for over 30 years, the frustrated residents of Ottawa, Verulam, are demanding answers from their councillor and the eThekwini Municipality.
On Wednesday, 13 October, the community held a meeting where they voiced their concerns about service delivery issues that they believe are brought about by a municipality that simply does not care about their area and an absent councillor. One of the residents who attended the meeting, Luven Govender, said the two biggest issues are the challenges of electricity and water supply. “We face these issues daily yet we are ratepayers. Those in charge need to be held accountable,” he said. Govender said he tried to get ahold of the councillor for Ward 102, Siyabonga Thango, to no avail. “We had community meetings for these issues before. When residents try to contact him to ask if he can attend, nobody is able to reach him. We really just had enough as a community. EThekwini gives us different excuses every time we have a problem. Loadshedding, pumps, fuses. The excuses are endless. The ANC had 27 years to get the country in order but we haven’t seen any action. Do they need another 27 years to sort out basic issues?”
Another resident who attended the meeting was 59-year-old Jeeva Pillay who described their issues as “persistent”. “It’s really an ongoing issue. The excuse they give is that those installing fibre connections are interfering with the water and electricity supply but the community experienced all these problems long before fibre installation began.” Andisha Maharaj, the facilitator for the Ottawa Environmental Forum, said: “If one looks at where the reservoirs are built, one could see that it would be easy for water to reach the community, but it wasn’t coming down easily and I have a strong suspicion that it is being diverted to the new developments in the uMdloti and Sibiya projects. Regarding electricity issues, there are many concerns surrounding the transformers at our substations. To what standards are these transformers held and where are they getting it from? This shows how money is utilised by the municipality.” Nazeema David, a ward candidate for Ward 102 from the Minorities of South Africa (MOSA), said she is actively involved with the community of Parkgate, Ottawa, since the beginning of the year and has witnessed first-hand frustrations of the community. “When it comes to service delivery, water and electricity is on top of the list. The community faces daily losses as they have to throw out groceries from their fridges and freezers. As ratepayers they are dealt a raw deal with no support from their current councillor, someone they cannot get hold of. With nowhere to turn, the community has engaged with me. In my intervention I got a response from the Operations Manager who said there is a plan to stabilise the situation. There are multiple excuses ranging from fibre contractors digging trenches to loadshedding. The big question is, when is this going to end?” Councillor Thango did not provide a comment by the time of going to print.
