The lack of service delivery in the Park Rynie area has residents up in arms and calling for change as we head into the 1 November Local Government Elections.
According to the residents in the South Coast of KwaZulu-Natal, they have been battling on their own to try and fix their community after their calls for help have gone unnoticed and their cries for roads and streetlights to be fixed, have fallen on deaf ears.Residential streets that were once littered with potholes have now been covered with gravel which has compounded the situation, according to the chairperson of the Park Rynie Civic Association, Mr N Naidoo. He said the gravel on the roads is causing damage to vehicles as the stones are hitting cars. Naidoo also raised concern with the stormwater drainage system in the area. “What we see now are the roads cut up for water to flow. The stormwater needs to be channeled into the stormwater system. All pleas for help go unheard by ward councillors. They have done nothing about it.”
Naidoo went on to say that Umdoni Municipality’s technical team continues to fail in resolving the day-to-day issues. “Local government elections are around the corner but basic municipal services count to zero. Residents are tired of voicing their concerns and as ratepayers, they are starting to question what services they are actually receiving with no service delivery. The conditions in the area are so bad, properties are not managed, attracting vagrants and criminals, streetlights do not work, the grass is not cut and pavements are damaged,” added Naidoo.
Dharamraj Singh commented on a post regarding the situation on Facebook saying: “There is no service delivery in the area. Our streetlights have not been working for the past five years.”
He was supported by Naidoo, who said: “These streets commute workers and children who now have to walk on the road because of the damaged pavement. The harm that can be caused is severe and councillors are not bothered.
As a community we must ensure that people of caliber and integrity are voted into council. Ratepayers are sick and tired of the promises made. If people cannot deliver they should be removed. Councillors should have a probationary period to prove themselves.”
Ward 10 Councillor, Edwin Baptie, under the Umdoni Municipality, said the residents are absolutely true in their allegations regarding the derelict infrastructure and slow service delivery in the area and laid the blame at the doors of the municipality.
“Umdoni is abusing its resources and has the funds to fix the situation but do not want to use it as it conflicts with residents not wanting to vote for the ANC and in turn are treated with disrespect.
Two months ago, the municipality talked about a turn-around strategy and money was taken out of the savings to fix the infrastructure, however, this strategy later changed to fixing the rural areas,” said Cllr Babtie. He encouraged residents to keep fighting and said: “There is hope for residents to change the leadership in Umdoni for the upcoming elections.” The municipality had yet to comment by the time of print.
