Ward 13 residents want the Govan Mbeki Municipality to first repair the roads and remove waste before it even thinks about installing the new smart meters for electricity.
This came out at a community meeting called by their ward councillor, Calvin Makhado, on September 5.
An argument erupted when Makhado talked about paying for services.
Some residents said they are tired of listening to the rhetoric, others accused the municipality of only wanting money, and some said when there are job opportunities, the municipal staff employ their friends and relatives.
Makhado told the residents the meeting aimed to inform them to visit the municipal offices to register as indigent if they qualify. It was also to advise them about the installation of smart meters and to encourage residents wanting residential stands to visit the customer care centre to check if they are registered on the waiting register.
“We are tired of lies. You always carry that book and write what we say. Of the things you wrote in that book, how many were implemented?” a resident asked Makhado.
“You just follow the procedure to hold compulsory community meetings. Nothing will come of it. We don’t have roads. We are unemployed, but you want us to give the municipality the R370 grant we receive from the government to feed our family. All of you at the municipality want to see us dead,” said the resident.
Others claimed they had registered as indigents but were not approved. Makhado said some people get declined as indigents because they let visitors use their municipal accounts as proof of address when applying for work.
That visitor is then considered an employed person living at that particular address.
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“Stop giving just anyone your municipal statement as proof of residence. It will cost you.”
To qualify as indigent, a person must earn less than R4 500 monthly.
“Some of you also have tuck shops and rental rooms in your yards, but you want to be regarded as an indigent. No, you are not. That is a business site and must be rezoned as such, and you must pay full services because you make money,” said Makhado.
Makhado wanted the community to choose two people to accompany him to the municipality to ask that it fix their roads.
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