VRYHEID: eMondlo residents protest about service delivery

Lolo Madonsela

The community of Bhekumthetho, better known as Section C in eMondlo, took to the streets last week Friday for a peaceful march to the AbaQulusi Local Municipality offices in Section A.
Their grievances centred around service delivery matters which included road construction; water and electricity issues; lack of employment; housing; and a crèche that was never handed over to the community.
They demanded that the construction of the road from Zama to Kwabalele be completed without any more phases, “We were promised that phase 1 would kick off and soon after, phase 2 would also take place. Indeed, phase 1 did begin, but by mid-January this year, construction stopped. While we were wondering what was happening, another contractor came and continued where the initial contractor had left off, but that contractor also halted work.
“No one told us anything; no explanations. Then lockdown commenced and we understood, but when government started initiating levels of lockdown, there was still nothing happening with our road. Now we are saying we do not want any more phases; the road must be constructed at once and be completed,” said Sibusiso Nkosi, who read out the memorandum to members of Exco, the Speaker, Acting Mayor, Deputy Mayor of Zululand, and councillors.
In their demands, they also complained that the municipality was not employing local people.
“Most of the managers are not local people. Don’t we have learned people here? Even with general workers, the majority of them are people from Vryheid and other areas, yet eMondlo makes up 60% of AbaQulusi’s residents. We are not saying those people should not work, but we are appealing for balance,” continued Nkosi.
Addressing the electricity issue, Nkosi said it was not only for Bhekumthetho people, but for eMondlo in its entirety.
“This has been an ongoing problem since Pheshu (former mayor in previous administration) was the mayor. When we enquire from your employees, they tell us there are no resources. Our electricity gets cut off every now and then. We only have one transformer; we need a second one to boost the other one because with the slightest wind, the power gets cut off. “When there is load-shedding in eMondlo, we are in a blackout more than the announced hours. How is that possible? People in Vryheid do not get load-shedding. We are equal when you want votes, but are not when it comes to service delivery. Be careful with this because, in the end, it will cause friction between the people of eMondlo and the people of Vryheid, yet we are under one municipality. Even with the municipal offices that are servicing us here, we cannot get help because of the constant power cuts,” lamented Nkosi.

Also read: #JusticeforPhakamani protest leaves eMondlo burning

They also complained that the water pipe coming from the water works to supply Bhekumthetho has been broken into two to supply Section B as well, which they believe affects the water supply and pressure in the area.
They demanded that the crèche that was built three years ago be refurbished and be handed over to the community to utilise it, as there are women operating from their kitchen taking care of children.
They also demanded that phase 2 of the housing project be implemented as soon as possible, as there were people who were left out during the first phase. This also included the electricity in-fills for those who were left out during that project. Speaker Michael Khumalo acknowledged the memorandum and promised that the municipality will respond to all matters within seven days and send the responses back to the community.

Make sure you follow us on our social media platforms for regular updates