Editor –
The incompetent leadership under the embattled Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality has created an uncertain environment about the future of business growth and job creation to absorb the unemployed youth into job opportunities.
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If this decline is not taken seriously by the municipality, the consequences of this ambivalence over whether the youth have a prosperous future under this municipality or not may force the youth to abandon this town and move to where there are better opportunities of employment.
The closure of the Masonite factory is a huge loss in Estcourt, especially to the people who were employed and putting food on their families’ tables. And it is very disappointing that the municipal leadership is not doing enough to address the job decline in our town. Instead of seeking solutions, they are busy fighting over positions.
The lack of administration, lack of capacity, blatant corruption, lack of accountability, lack of transparency, lack of service delivery framework, collapse of service delivery, jobs for pals, nepotism, failure to prepare a realistic budget, failure to adhere to the municipality’s Service Delivery and Budget Implementation Plan, and incompetent staff within the municipality are of great concerns and are the main causes of the financial instability and collapse of the municipality.
The residents of this town need something better; not this incapacitated leadership. Although Cogta has placed the municipality under administration in order to assist with a comprehensive turnaround strategy and restore hope to the residents and business people, there is still huge concern around the leadership instability, given that nothing is being achieved except the change of administrators that are being deployed.
Despite the presence of an administrator in the municipality, the situation is getting worse given that unhappy members of the community have resolved to show their anger against the clueless leadership of the municipality by burning tyres around the main municipal offices in Victoria Street, Estcourt, in the early hours of November 11.
The Mimosadale housing project was approved by Human Settlements in 2010 and the contractor came to the site in 2015. Now it’s 2019, but only 100 houses of 1050 have been built. More than 950 qualifying beneficiaries are still experiencing homelessness and are vulnerable to heavy rains.
We know that in the months of November, December and January, we experience heavy rains that come with storms, and needy people are now living in fear that if heavy rainfall comes, they are the ones who will severely suffer the consequences, while the responsible leadership at Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality will not feel the pain.
As we speak now, the contractor is not on site (Mimosadale) and is expected to come back next year. The bus route of about 5km was started in 2016, but to date is still not complete and nobody is taking responsibility from municipal leadership.
The above concerns show that the leadership is weak and clueless when it comes to service delivery. Firefighting trucks and equipment are in very poor condition, and not ready to assist if need be. We have seen in the past and now that the Inkosi Langalibalele Municipality firefighting service department failing to assist in extinguishing fire at the NCD / Clover factory in Estcourt, and some people recently lost their lives while trapped in a car due to failure by the municipality to send firefighters to the scene.
While we understand that unemployment is a national issue, it must be understood that the municipality is expected to play a major role in creating an environment that is conducive to attract domestic and international investment.
The huge gap between the municipality and the Estcourt Business Chamber of Commerce is a great concern. Local business people are the main people who can come up with the best ideas to promote and stimulate economic growth and development.
Business is the most important sector that contributes more to make the municipality economically viable and financially stable. It is my feeling that it is now high time that the mayor ask suggestions from business people in order to go in the right direction.
It is noticeable that there are numerous housing projects in the pipeline, but nothing is done to arrest the economic decline and poor service delivery. The closing down of major factories like Masonite is of great concern to the residents of Inkosi Langalibalele and it necessitates a holistic approach that involves stakeholders from both private and public sectors.
The current leadership has dismally failed to implement and fulfil the promises it made while campaigning to get into power. New visionary leadership is needed to bring about change now.
Hon ML Shelembe MP (uThukela Constituency Political Head – Democratic Alliance)
A copy of this letter has been sent to the municipality for a response.
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