The future of any political party that manages the country or a municipality is determined by the levels and speed at which it delivers services to its people. “We are almost a year in since the last local government election and four months into budget allocation for ILM, and we see very slow progress with regard to service delivery,” said activist, Avanash Lakhan.
DA PR Councillor for Ward 17 Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality in Estcourt, Ugan Chetty, recently conducted an oversight visit to the Mahhashini section of Wembezi. “I was disappointed to find that the main access road, which runs the length of the boundary of Mahadhini, is still corrugated and more sections have been dug up for new water pipe laying and have not been backfilled and levelled out; a definite risk to motorists and pedestrians,” said Cllr Chetty. Residents were thrilled to have piped water access brought to their homes but stated that the process is still not complete after almost a year. Slow service delivery leads to disgruntled communities and protests. “The access road in its current condition is almost inaccessible during heavy rains, with the road turning into a slip and slide after heavy rains,” said a resident who Cllr Chetty spoke to during the visit. We should always ensure that these service delivery projects are monitored closely on an ongoing basis. The piped water project should have concluded by now and are residents receiving water on tap in their yards,” said Cllr Chetty.
More disappointing on the visit was the amount of dumping that was occurring on almost every street corner. Building rubble, household rubbish and general litter could be found, calling for concerns regarding regular household refuse collection in the area. “Residents who we engaged with said that most of the refuse was from stray animals (dogs) destroying the refuse bags, rummaging for things to eat before the collection could take place. There are also some who just blatantly dump their refuse instead of taking it out on ‘bin day’.” Cllr Chetty urged the community of Mahashini to refrain from illegal dumping of any items, be it general refuse or building rubble, but to rather arrange for proper disposal. “As the DA PR Councillor for Ward 17 in Mahashini, I will be engaging with the relevant department managers, the acting municipal manager of the municipality and the newly-appointed municipal manager of uThukela to raise these issues found during my oversight visit so that the community gets their services delivered,” concluded Cllr Chetty.
