As the newly chosen Chairman of the Residents committee, Michael Rametse put it, “On Friday we will face the mayor as one people, standing together and we will start to take back our town.”
Fuming residents remained calm and constructive in sharing their grievances during the meeting.
A list of grievances were read out by Rametse and verbally confirmed by the other residents, in order to form a united and uncluttered front for their confrontation with the mayor on Friday night (again at 18:00 in the Laerskool Duiwelskloof school hall).
The issues raised were spread wide across the municipal landscape, ranging from financial mismanagement, through electricity and water supply to the maintenance and upkeep of town infrastructure as well as the serious sewerage problems the town has been experiencing.
Angry residents shared the challenges they face daily.
As one resident put it: “You know you have to drink water before night. At night the water goes away. You know you have to eat and relax before 21:00 because at 21:00 the power goes away.”
Fred Hoffman, treasurer of the Resident’s Committee summed it up succinctly: “The crux of the matter is financial accountability. Our town is not getting fixed because finances which should be used to fix things are being siphoned away. Isn’t it time that we stand together and put our town’s management under administration?”
