The community of Elandsfontein and eMabondeni informal settlement say they are tired of not receiving service delivery.
Both areas have been affected by electricity issues and feel their councillor is not taking the matter seriously.
Residents of Elandsfontein, near Sizwe Secondary School, say they have been having electricity problems for years now, but in the past few weeks it has gotten worse.
“We keep on having power cuts and they can last for days.
“We report it and get reference numbers, but we still get no help.
“The councillor also seems not to care much about the area,” said members of the community.
They said the electricity cuts are also costing them financially because they have to constantly replace appliances due to damage.
“The electricity cuts damage our appliances and we don’t even know where to go to report this.
“We can’t even buy meat in bulk because it goes off.
“We have learned to buy day by day because you do not know where you will be able to keep your perishable food.
“You never know when the electricity will go off or come back on,” said residents.
The residents of eMabondeni have been accused of doing illegal electricity connections by the Elandsfontein residents and said their electricity problems might also be caused due to this reason.
eMabondeni residents did not deny the allegations.
“It is true we have illegal electricity connections and we have reasons why we have done this.
“We have been asking for electricity to be installed in the settlement for some time.
“We even spoke to our councillor, but he has not assisted us with anything,” said some residents from eMabondeni.
Community members from Elandsfontein and eMabondeni said their councillor, Graham Gersbach, is failing them.
The GCN sent questions to Gersbach regarding the allegations against him about not servicing his ward.
He said the allegations are untrue and that he always attends to their problems.
“I do visit the area.
“It is one of six voting districts in my ward and is treated the same as the other five voting districts in terms of taking up service delivery issues.
“More members of my ward committee come from the suburb than any other voting district in the ward and the issues are recorded every month in my ward committee meetings.
ALSO READ:
Numerous Germiston suburbs left in the dark once again
Follow-up: Scores of Germiston suburbs plunged into darkness
“I have WhatsApp groups for raising service delivery issues for every suburb in my ward.
“Elandsfontein is no different,” said Gersbach.
“I expect residents to report issues to the municipality through the available reporting channels, and to send me full details of the issue and the reference number and I follow the same process for every suburb in my ward.”
He said he has always tried to attend to issues in the area.
“In my previous term from 2011 to 2014, I pushed for the establishment of a multi-purpose community centre for the suburb and that is part of the municipal IDP.
“I also pushed for the stormwater project in the suburb and that was underway when I left.
“eMabondeni came into being after my previous term and contributed to the collapse of the stormwater infrastructure,” said Gersbach.
On the issue of electricity he said the problems are caused by the illegal connections.
“I raised the issues in the same way as every other suburb’s issues.
“The electricity infrastructure is compromised by illegal connections to the informal settlement and the high number of backyard dwellers.
“The infrastructure was never intended to cater for the overcrowding that is evident,” said Gersbach.
He said the reason eMabondeni is not electrified is because the municipality plans to relocate the residents.
“The municipality plans to relocate eMabondeni, as it was illegally established on Prasa/Transnet land, therefore, the municipality will only provide electricity supply once the settlement is relocated,” said Gersbach.
On the issue of damaged appliances he said residents can take the matter to the customer care centre in Germiston and they would advise on what they can and can’t claim for.
Have a story?
Contact the newsroom by emailing: Melissa Hart (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, Leigh Hodgson (News Editor) leighh@caxton.co.za or Busi Vilakazi (Journalist) busiv@caxton.co.za.
Also follow us on:
