Ruling party hijacks Princess solution
All his hard work for nothing: Councillor Carl Mann livid that his project has been hijacked.
Once again the ruling party hijacked a DA-lead solution to service delivery problems, said ward councillor Carl Mann.
Apparently an event celebrating residents’ electricity being connected for the first time was held yesterday (Wednesday 19 August) at the transit camp.
This without the relevant councillor’s notice or invite. The Record was also not notified or invited to attend, but gathered some information about the event from tweets posted by City Power (@CityPowerJhb).
Using the hashtags #Princesstransitcamp and #Lighttheway City Power on twitter said 341 houses were officially added to the grid in Princess at the transit camp yesterday and 50 street lights have been installed in the neighbourhood. A company called Black Box Entertainment apparently educated the newly-connected residents about reporting vandalism and illegal connections. It seems a large marquee tent was put up somewhere in Princess in which the event was held and which MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Matshidiso Mfikoe attended.
The Record has been told Mfikoe was the organiser of the event. She was quoted at the event saying she organised it because she “received a complaint from KayaFM that the people had no electricity”.
She also allegedly said residents “had a problem with illegal connections”, oblivious to the fact that it is an ongoing problem just a few streets up in Albertina Sisulu Road. The event she allegedly organised and the work done offered no solution to Grobler Park residents or the businesses on Albertina Sisulu Road who have been struggling with the illegal connection problem for months, if not years.
Councillor for Ward 85 which includes the transit camp in Princess, Carl Mann, said this is another case where “the oppostion parties’ councillors have done all the work and the ruling party swoops in to take credit for it”.
“We’re coming up to local elections and this is rather a rally for political support than sincere involvement in the community; Grobler Park and the local businesses’ pleas are still being ignored.”
A quick look through the Record’s archives brought to light at least five articles done since May 2014 about the councillor’s involvement in the substation and illegal connection saga in Princess.
Here are the articles, listed by date:
• Confirmed: City Power employees’ lives threatened, 18 July 2015
• Paying customers soon relieved of illegal connection woes, 7 July 2015
• Councillor hits a bump with City Power, 18 May 2015
• Plan to keep lights on in Grobler Park, 16 March 2015
• Substations in Princess in shocking state, 26 May 2014
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