Tshwane promises to look into grievance after parties march, deliver memorandum

Members of the Lotus Atteridgeville Saulsville Civic Association (Lasca) – consisting of various parties such as Xiluva, Build One South Africa (Bosa), the Pan Africanist Congress and the National Freedom Party – yesterday marched to Tshwane House demanding better service delivery and the writing off of historical debt.

Lasca chair Tshepo Mahlangu likened Tshwane House – the city’s headquarters and council chamber – to a scene of crime, and asked marchers for a moment of silence for the people who died in Hammanskraal due to cholera.

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“Crime is happening here, they are stealing your money. R10 billion they have stolen here, but nobody was arrested,” he said.

“We are not going to allow nonsense anymore.” Mahlangu said it was the second memorandum the residents were presenting to the city.

The issues in the memorandum date back to 2021 and include:

• Poor service delivery;
• Billing crisis;
• Credit control of the accounts;
• Equitable share policy;
• Indigent policy;
• Formalisation of informal settlements; and
• Writing off of deliberate estimated bills and faulty prepaid meter debt.

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Marsha Masinga from the Bosa Mamelodi branch said they were concerned about water.

“As a Bosa candidate, it pains me that people died in Hammanskraal because of the bad quality of water,” she said.

“We are also concerned about the [general] service delivery in the city. Look at the city, it’s dull, there’s no longer life, the city is dirty and we can no longer stand that.”

Tshwane MMC for human settlements Ofentse Madzebatela promised the city would to respond to the complaints by Lasca within 14 working days.

“The majority of things, as I listened to the memorandum being read out, are things we are already looking to tackle and address,’” he said.

“We will respond comprehensively in writing.” Madzebatela said the city was in the process of correcting the mess.

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“We have employed a CFO (chief financial officer) and suspended the head of revenue and billing, so it’s something the city is working on.”

He said even though their programme was available to those who cannot afford water or electricity, the should not overuse it.

“But when you overuse or exceed the amount you are given, then people will have to pay,” he said.

Political analyst Piet Croucamp said it would be the first of many service delivery strikes to come.

He said service delivery protests were usually aimed at local leaders and local government.

“The problem is that local leaders are utterly disempowered by the weak tax net of the governments and inefficacy and inability to execute the service delivery,” he said.