Essential services must continue – Cogta
Cogta MEC, Sipho Hlomuka said municipalities had a duty to ensure that residents still received adequate services and that the lockdown was not an excuse for failing to do so.
Lockdown or no lockdown, we must continue with uninterrupted essential service delivery.
This is the view of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) MEC, Sipho Hlomuka who said in a statement that municipalities had a duty to ensure that residents were still receiving adequate services and that the lockdown was not an excuse for failing to do so.
ALSO READ: Covid-19: Five safe places for women and children around Port Shepstone
Hlomuka said such essential services included waste removal, water, sanitation, electricity and disaster management.
“Essential services will continue. The department issued a directive to municipalities in the province where municipal managers had to sign letters instructing workers and service providers who provide essential services to report for duty.”
According to Hlomuka, this was in line with the disaster management regulations as gazetted by Cogta minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.
“It’s crucial for local government to play its part in ensuring that service delivery which is essential to the well-being of communities is implemented.”
The MEC stressed that where possible, municipalities were instructed to implement measures for staff to work from home.
“The success of the lockdown depends on all of us playing our part as local government.” added Hlomuka.
He also said Cogta continued to support municipalities across the province with the provision of water tanks.
“Since last April, the department has distributed 2300 tanks, and R160-m worth of plant equipment which includes water tankers, waste trucks, honey suckers, TLBs, graders and other equipment with the aim of speeding up the delivery of services.”
He added that while local government was constrained, municipalities would do their best to ensure that services were uninterrupted.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
* Notice: Coronavirus reporting at Caxton Local Media aims to combat fake news
Dear reader,
As your local news provider, we have the duty of keeping you factually informed on Covid-19 developments. As you may have noticed, mis- and disinformation (also known as “fake news”) is circulating online. Caxton Local Media is determined to filter through the masses of information doing the rounds and to separate truth from untruth in order to keep you adequately informed. Local newsrooms follow a strict pre-publication fact-checking protocol. A national task team has been established to assist in bringing you credible news reports on Covid-19.
Readers with any comments or queries may contact National Group Editor Irma Green (irma@caxton.co.za) or Legal Adviser Helene Eloff (helene@caxton.co.za).
