The story behind Mbombela Electricity & Water Information’s name change

A social media storm erupted on Facebook this week, on a group formerly known by its 28 900 members as Mbombela Electricity & Water Information. The reason? Its sudden name change for reasons that have until now, been unknown.

The group gained massive popularity over the past decade, for being the only efficient group sharing information with the local community on municipal service delivery issues.

Thea Rix and a number of other DA councillors, with the assistance of a number of moderators, were forced to change the name this week due to massive infighting that broke out on a WhatsApp group used by 90 municipal councillors. It is now called Community Information.

Rix established and administered the Mbombela Electricity & Water Information Facebook group about 10 years ago, and years before becoming a councillor of the City of Mbombela (CoM).
The uproar was triggered during the recent serious interruption of power supply to large areas of Mbombela.

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This crisis started when underground cables started burning and eventually led to the destruction of a substation in the West Acres area.

During this crisis, Rix and Sanley van der Merwe of the DA constantly fed information to the CBD wards via the Mbombela Electricity & Water Information Facebook group to keep them up to date on the progress regarding the repairs.

It got totally out of hand on the page when some group members posted a string of seriously derogatory statements, vulgar language and racist remarks. Some of these tasteless remarks were even directed at the executive mayor of CoM, Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko.

Trouble escalated further when a group, to which all municipal councillors have access, started a mudslinging match in which numerous councillors were badly attacked and insulted by their colleagues.

Emotions eventually were calmed down when Makushe-Mazibuko personally intervened and gave the councillors a rap on the knuckles. This afternoon, January 3, in a telephonic conversation she confirmed to Lowvelder that she was unhappy about what happened on the councillors’ group, and this was when she intervened.

“This is a private WhatsApp group just for councillors and I wish I could show you some of the messages, but that is not ethical or possible,” Makushe-Mazibuko said.

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Lowvelder reliably learnt that this internal squabble among the municipal councillors eventually even turned to petty arguments around the use of the name Mbombela on the community Facebook group.

This led to the unforeseen situation in which Rix even decided to change the name to, what some describe as a nonsensical name, Community Information. A heated debate erupted on the page about the sudden name change.

“I still want to know who put the political pressure to have the group name changed. If you sway to political pressure like this, I will vote for parties that do not bend the knee at this kind of pressure. I will do whatever I can to bring the knee-bending party down,” threatened Pierre du Preez, vice chairperson of the White River Ratepayers Association and the mostly inactive Facebook group Power of 8000.

Rix said over the past two days the moderators assisting her deleted no fewer than 200 derogatory and racist posts.
“All I want to do, is to do what my aim was when I started the group, long before I became a councillor, is to serve the community by giving them factual information.
“That is why I like to call myself a ‘lifeline’ for the community,” she said.

“Outside of political parties also institutionally the use of the Mbombela name has been creating confusion and residents think it is an official Mbombela page instead of a personal group,” said Makushe-Mazibuko.

“Thea created [it] years ago, before she was a councillor and not accountable to anyone… neither institution nor constituency.
“Everything she posts now has consequences and to post it under the name of the institution that she works for while that institution has a spokesperson. And a page causes an expectation for the admins to answer on behalf of the institution or Mbombela”

She added that councillors have a code of conduct they abide by after taking an oath. “This would have never been imposed on Rix before she became a councillor, but because she is now, that code of conduct must be adhered to,” said Makushe-Mazibuko.

“I became part of this group a while back due to the name thinking it was a Mbombela page and officials of Mbombela are communicating to all citizens in the 45 wards only to realise it was just issues around the CBD, so others would be equally as confused.
“The group’s admins have been keeping the four CBD wards (15, 16, 17 and 30) informed, and big up to them on that,” Makushe-Mazibuko said.

This is a developing story.