VANDERBIJLPARK. – The Mayor of Emfuleni Local Municipality (ELM) Sipho Radebe together with some Members of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) had to leave a meeting to come and address angry community members from Tshepong on Tuesday morning.
Residents of Ward 21 stormed the ELM building, demanding answers from the mayor who is also their Ward Councilor regarding a bulk electricity supply installation in their ward. Residents said they had not had electricity for six years and demanded answers regarding the delay of a project to electrify the area since 2021.
Community members said that they had high hopes for their area after voting Radebe into power but to their dismay, he has been very relaxed and at times ignoring communication from residents about the state of affairs in his ward.
“The roads are in a terrible state, Tshepong is dirty and there is sewer running in our streets,” residents stated.
Wheelchair-bound resident; Dineo Mavimbela (30) said it has been a nightmare for her to live without electricity for so long. “I can’t cook when I’m alone because I have to use a paraffin stove. The other day the flames from the stove got out of control and I tried to move back. I ended up falling off my wheelchair and had to get myself to the couch to get away from the flames. I have to wait for my mom to come back from work to get a decent meal.”
MMC for Public Works, Vincent Jones promised residents that they would hold a meeting on-site with the contractor to find out what the cause of the delay is. Jones promised that they would ensure that the project is completed before the beginning of the Winter season.
Radebe said he together with his team had tried to find out what was causing the project to be on a standstill.
“It is not true that I don’t respond to messages in the group, I have previously asked that we only address matters of service delivery in the group but at times there are lots of messages and voice notes coming in. Sometimes I am not able to respond to the high number of messages due to time constraints,” he said.
Radebe reiterated that it is important for the project to be completed before winter hits.
“I would like to thank you for the way you conducted yourselves when MMC Jones addressed you. We promise that the contractor will be on-site to complete the remaining percentage of the project starting on Wednesday.”
