‘Pay your dues first’ says Endumeni Mayor
The Mayor said Endumeni could be a shining beacon once again, but only if residents paid their dues.
Residents who do not pay services charges have no right to complain about the municipality. This is according to Endumeni Mayor, Sduduzo Mdluli, who once again stressed the importance of ‘inculcating a culture of payment among our people’.
“We can’t balance the books when only a percentage of people are paying their dues and others are enjoying a free ride, not paying their services charges yet being quick to complain about broken street lights.”
Mayor Mdluli said residents would be cut off for missing airtime or DStv payments, yet were happy to sit back and let their neighbours pay municipal bills on their behalf.
He spoke to the Courier when the municipality took delivery of a new R1,4-million 16-ton refuse compactor truck. The truck was bought through the National Treasury Transversal Contract Scheme, which enabled the municipality to buy the truck directly from the supplier.
“We want rapidly implemented service delivery, hence we cut out the middleman by not using a tender process which would have been slower, as there could have been objections we would have to contend with before going ahead.”
Mayor Mdluli added the municipal refuse fleet was also ageing, which was why a new refuse compactor was needed.
“We now have three, but one is a 1979 model. The compactor is okay but needs a new truck – so we are looking at putting the compactor on a new truck; innovative but effective ways of cost-cutting without compromising service delivery.”
Asked about the state of the roads, with more than 230 squares meters of potholes repaired in the municipal area over the last month, Mayor Mdluli said things were happening at a ‘high speed’ but admitted that nature sometimes intervened.
“Our road network dates back over 40 years. It is aged, and in some cases failing. No one could predict then how the traffic volumes would mushroom as they have. Climate change is also affecting our infrastructure. These days, we receive sharp, intense rainfall which can cause road failings. Despite this, I want to ensure all residents that we are working flat out to make Endumeni the shining light of a municipality it once was, but we need residents to pay their dues and to work with us.”
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