The municipal council has in the meantime established a Whatsapp forum for councilors and heads of departments as a means of directly raising service delivery issues with those responsible to address the issue.
This intervention method has shown some positive results and residents are holding their breath that this will bring a change in the poor service delivery that is prevailing.
Several residents are skeptical and stated that excuses will no longer cut the line, they want action with resolving municipal issues.
Two of the latest incidents are testimony to it.
Johan van Staden, a resident of Noodhulp, said that on Thursday 9 December a municipal transformer broke down and has since left their household without electricity. He claims he reported it directly to the municipal client service center on the day the transformer became defective.
He has since reached out to the municipal manager for support. It was only on Monday 7 February that he received word that a new transformer would be ordered the same week.
“We appreciate the municipal manager’s effort to have water delivered to our smallholding, but we need people who are committed to service delivery and constant feedback on progress. Like most people in our area, we are now fed up with the municipality.”
Van Staden wishes to express his thanks towards Tinus Ras, DA councilor, who organized with Valley de Souza’s electrical company to install a temporary transformer on the property until such time that the municipality delivers on their obligation.
The need for preventative maintenance in the area, especially with the effect load-shedding has on the current power grid, must be addressed, Van Staden said.
- Elsewhere in town, a handicapped resident, Colin Dale, is recovering in the Warmbaths Hospital, after his wheelchair capsized in a pothole in Luna Road. Dale, a former painter, is a well-known figure in town. He lost his leg due to a crippling disease.
According to a friend of long-standing, Hettie van Wyk, Dale left his apartment two weeks ago for some daily exercise.
“We have had the misfortune of a long-neglected water leak in Luna Road. Colin thought he could push his chair through a puddle, believing the surface was even, but the chair fell into the hole and he broke his hip. He was not able to get back in his chair.”
According to her, Dale also lost his dentures during the fall. Bystanders came to his rescue and he was taken to the local hospital. He is still awaiting a hip replacement.
“If the problem was fixed when we reported it on numerous occasions, he might still be seen in his wheelchair doing chores around town. We have had no response from the municipality on our complaints.”
At the time of the newspaper going to press, Van Wyk thanked JeeDee Cloete, Freedom Front Plus councilor, who made inquiries last week and since then the municipality attended to the leak.
- The Muslim community who are currently in preparation for the annual Ramadan Festival at the beginning of April, are anxiously awaiting a response regarding their urgent pleas to the municipality to fix the streetlights.
The Jinnah Park community in Bela-Bela is suffering due to regular interruptions in their water supply and the non-functioning streetlights cause a safety risk.
“Before each prayer and scripture reading, our religion demands that we cleanse ourselves from head to toe by washing. It symbolizes that we present ourselves as pure, but if there is no water in the taps, we cannot participate,” Sharine Saloojee, a well-known resident, told The Post.
“Only men attend the prayers at the mosque, while the women remain at home. Ramadan festivities can take an entire day, which most of us enjoy participating in. But at night, the men who walk home from the mosque are at risk because there are no functional streetlights and it is very dark.”
“We can fill tubs and containers with water, but it would not be enough. All of us are looking forward to reloading spiritually, but we need water, we need lights and we want to live as normal as possible. The municipality does not seem to care and we still pay our taxes, but receive zero benefits in return.”
- The municipality was given an opportunity to respond on these issues, as always when The Post is reporting on municipal issues, but we did not receive any answers from the municipal spokesperson.
