Standerton residents are with their backs against the wall
Nobody in B-sub can be faulted for waiting a few minutes after load-shedding before attempting to use electrical appliances as the power can trip any moment.
The three main service delivery issues, namely electricity interruptions, water interruptions and road conditions, take their rightful place in municipal history.
We recently found two glaring examples of crumbling infrastructure in the space of one block.
The Standerton Advertiser investigated two potholes, filled with sewage water from a leak next to the Jerrie van Vuuren Building on Paarl Street.
A pungent smell from the leak drifted upwards. The potholes were packed with small stones. The newspaper found the gate wide open.
The gate was closed on March 10 and no sewage water was leaking downwards and the potholes were in the same condition.
According to Wilma Venter, Freedom Front Plus councillor in the ward, Lekwa was waiting for equipment to repair the leak.
“A procurement process had to be followed since the municipality does not have the machine,” Venter said.
Venter also said she was on-site and municipal workers were waiting for a TLB, busy with a cable fault elsewhere, to begin repairing the leak.
Residents fixed some of the potholes in Paarl Street further north, but the busy road carries traffic to Laerskool Standerton, Hoërskool Standerton, Gert Sibande College, Standerton Primary School, as well as taxi drivers on their way towards the Standerton Hospital in Kruger Street, or residents wanting to do shopping at the Junxion Centre.
It is an open question of how long the road will be user-friendly.
Nobody in B-sub can be faulted for waiting a few minutes after load-shedding before attempting to use their electrical appliances, as the power can trip any moment.
A Monday can be blue for the business community.
Residents in Ward 10 expressed their sheer frustration on a WhatsApp group, demanding answers from the Lekwa Municipality.
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The Standerton Advertiser earlier sent a message on this platform to Thando Nkosi, the municipal communications officer and followed it up with an email.
The number of businesses and households in B-sub was requested and no reply was received at the time of going to press.
One local wanted to know why households in the B-sub can’t be moved back to C-sub. That question had been raised in the past, as well as why it was done in the first place.
The fact that municipal accounts are paid religiously was also mentioned on a residents’ WhatsApp group.
Venter said on March 9 the water problem in streets such as Kerk, Kieser and Beyers Naudé was reported daily for the past four weeks.
According to her, the HOD sent a team on March 2 to check the valves, to no avail. They deployed water trucks irregularly, without solving the problems.
“This is an abuse of human rights to have residents without water and no explanation from the department of water and sanitation at Lekwa,” Venter added.
Concerning electricity, the power went off on Tuesday in the Vodacom area, which was immediately reported.
Venter was on site when municipal workers did fault-finding after they damaged a cable during work on the R23.
The Standerton Advertiser visited Magda Kriel, a resident at the intersection of Leyds Street and Kerk Street on March 9 to see first-hand what her problem with her water supply was.
According to Kriel, she has been without a supply for at least a month now. She has two Jojo tanks and the cost of filling the tanks was R1 300.
“I do not water my plants, nor my garden,” she said.
They left the hole outside the property open after municipal workers dug it. The tap in her yard is open in the event of water coming back.
ALSO READ: Lekwa-residents protest lack of water and electricity
“I am at the end of my tether,” she added.
Kriel and her gardener were also responsible for previously repairing the potholes in Leyds Street, which is now once again in a deplorable state.
This taxpayer contacted the HOD of water and sanitation at Lekwa in the past, saying the department and the municipality are failing the community.
“This is unfair. We are not satisfied,” she concluded.
The newspaper has been trying via WhatsApp and email to find out the surname of the HOD.
The problem at substation C the past week affected the Standerton Water Treatment Plant.
Lekwa issued a notice on March 10 that water will be pumped to the community after the challenge at the plant.
Water trucks were deployed to the community and an apology was rendered.
