KaBokweni residents demand better service delivery

Angry residents took their grievance to the streets last Wednesday August 16, demanding water and service delivery.

They blockaded the road from the KaBokweni Post Office to Themba Hospital with bricks, stones and burning tyres. This made it difficult for motorists, commuters and public transport such as busses and taxis to reach their destinations on time.

According to the protesters, they are tired of the current situation and want change in the community.

They said due to the lack of water supply, it is difficult for the community to do basic things such as cleaning their homes, flushing toilets and washings clothes, and they are sometimes forced to buy drinking water.

The community members said there are some wards in the area that do not receive water supply for months, which leads to them to depend on water trucks, which are quite expensive.

“The municipality is failing us. We depend on waters trucks, which are not even enough to serve the whole community. We are then forced to buy water from other water trucks that sells in the community. We cannot afford to buy water monthly, because most of us are unemployed. We cannot even open small businesses because of the water issue, ”one said.

Another protester said the City of Mbombela’s (CoM) executive mayor, Cllr Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, must address them about the water issues.

“We want the mayor to give us a clear indication of when the issue will be addressed. We cannot live without water. We will not clear the streets until she comes.”

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The CoM’s spokesperson, Joseph Ngala, said the municipality is aware of the challenges.

“We engaged with them on Wednesday so we could hear what their challenges were. Besides the challenges of load-shedding affecting water supply, we know of the problems the community is facing. We are currently busy with a long-term solution to address the water shortage, to provide water through the Karino bulk water stream, although while we are busy with this, we have provided water tankers for the community members. We would like to urge them to use them, and appeal to them to work with the City.”

Ngala said he would like to urge the community members to speak to their ward councillors about the problems in their communities.

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“As the community, they are the ones who elected those ward councillors, and they must communicate with them when they have grievances,” he said.