Residents attend ward councillors’ meeting

KINROSS – Residents and their ward councillors met in Thistle Grove to iron out issues such as ward demarcations and grazing land for livestock.

The meeting took place at Kinross Sasol Club on Wednesday, 30 November and was organised by Ms Rose Nkabinde and Mr Ben Makola, councillors.

Mr Makola, who is responsible for Ward 17, began the meeting by explaining how the demarcation works and that he will be working with Ms Nkabinde because their two wards are only divided by a street.

Residents said they did not care who is responsible for which ward, all they want and need is service delivery.

The water cuts they have been experiencing in the area was also a burning issue.

Mr Rofhiwa Mulaudzi, senior engineering technician at Govan Mbeki Municipality, said the only water cut for Thistle Grove was on Thursday, 24 November.

His response made residents eager to know what had happened on the other days that they had water cuts.

Mr Mulaudzi said when residents do not comply with using water sparingly, the tanks run low and people who live in high areas will not get water, and those staying in low areas will still get some water.

“That was the reason why Thistle Grove residents did not have water.”

He further mentioned that the municipalities received instructions from the Department of Water and Sanitation to reduce the water consumption by 15 per cent from 5 September.

Mr Mulaudzi said Kinross residents were using water sparingly, but there was a sudden high water usage during the fourth week of November and that was the reason why they implemented water cuts.

“We do not just shut water down.

“We begin by reducing the water consumption and when people do not comply, we implement water shutdowns at night,” Mr Mulaudzi clarified.

Residents requested the councillor to use a bakkie with a loud speaker used for informing residents about urgent meetings, to inform residents when the tanks are running dry so they can reduce water usage rather than have the water cut.

Others said it seemed the municipality’s call centre employees do not know what is going on, because they were phoned during the water cuts and they said a water pipe had burst.

Mr Mulaudzi dismissed that a water pipe had burst during the fourth week of November.

Residents also shared their unhappiness with the call centre that refers them to Rand Water instead of the municipality when there is no water.

Mr Mulaudzi said the call centre is not supposed to refer residents to Rand Water, but should give them reference numbers and refer the complaints to the relevant technicians at the municipality.

He further mentioned that the municipality is currently investigating households that are not using water sparingly and that steps will be taken against them.

Other issues raised were street lights not working and livestock that graze in residential areas.

Residents said it is known that cows have ticks and when they rub themselves against fences, they leave ticks in people’s yards.

Others said they also eat the plants in front of their yards.

Mr Makola said they will raise all the issues at council meetings and will ensure they give feedback to the community.

In his closing statement, he said he had a fruitful meeting with the residents and is looking forward to working with them to solve their problems.