While municipalities’ service delivery is deteriorating in almost every corner of the country, more and more communities are stepping in to stop the increasing decay and deterioration. In KwaZulu-Natal, AfriForum members from the town of Pongola have now also had enough of this local municipality’s poor service delivery and decided to tackle the ineffectiveness practicallyy. That’s why, last week, a cleaning operation was started at the local cemetery.
The area experienced high rainfall during December, but since uPhongolo Local Municipality did little to no maintenance of the local cemetery, AfriForum’s Pongola branch decided to jump in and clean the site themselves.
According to Marilda Schoombee, AfriForum’s Pongola branch chairperson, the clean-up operation also offered a golden opportunity for family members to clean up the graves of loved ones under safe conditions. Community members cut and raked grass, and removed rubbish.
“This forms part of the Pongola branch’s sustainable projects and we plan to continue. We invite the community to also become part of these initiatives,” adds Schoombee.
“AfriForum notices daily how service delivery is deteriorating and that communities themselves are taking the initiative to take over services, which are the responsibility of local authorities. A powerful do-it-yourself approach is taking hold here in Pongola and elsewhere in the country. The power of communities that work together simply cannot be suppressed by ineffective politicians and officials,” explained Eugene van Aswegen, AfriForum’s provincial co-ordinator in KwaZulu-Natal.
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The news provided to you in this link has been investigated and compiled by the editorial staff of the Vryheid Herald, a sold newspaper distributed in the Vryheid area.
