Carolina residents demand proper service delivery

CAROLINA – The community told Mpumalanga News that they had tried in vain to get the attention of the municipality, and this was the reason why they had decided to take action.

During their protest, community members forcefully entered the municipal premises and locked the gates and doors, demanding that the management address them.

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Makhaza Ntuli, the community forum’s chairperson, said the entire community was angered by the municipal officials who did not show up to a previously planned community meeting.

“The community felt disrespected, so we decided to go and shut down the municipal offices completely,” he said. Ntuli said the community had been trying to fix the sewer spillage and leaking taps over the past few weeks, but their efforts were at times halted due to lack of working material.

“When we reported this problem to the municipality, no assistance came our way. We peacefully requested a meeting with them as we wanted them to address the issue of service delivery within our community. They decided to stay in their office without any form of communication with us. They do not take us seriously,” he said.

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Thapelo Phetla, the municipality’s communications officer, said the deposition of foreign objects had caused the sewage spillage and a team had been assigned to look into the problem.

“Our team was attending to the complaint, but due to the deposition of foreign objects by residents from the upper stream, the result is recurring spillages. The municipality has an operation and maintenance team attending to all issues related to sanitation,” said Phetla.