Dobsonville: ‘Roll up your sleeves and get the work done’
"The culture of non-payment of services started during the rent boycott in Soweto in the '80s."
Steve Nkatlo (86), former Dobsonville mayor during the height of apartheid in 1968, is concerned about the state of affairs in municipalities in the country under the new dispensation.
According to a recently released report issued by the auditor general, Kimi Makwetu some municipalities received clean audits but there is a lot of money which was not accounted for and most municipalities are battling to put their finances in order.
Makwetu further highlighted that some municipalities are almost bankrupt and called for an urgent plan need to be put in place to ensure their survival.
This is a worrying state of affairs to Nkatlo who urged his countrymen to put their houses in order for the betterment of this beloved country.
“During apartheid, we used to encourage our people to pay for the services they received.
“The culture of non-payment of services started during the rent boycott in Soweto in the ’80s.
“However, the culture still persists even today and the impact is severe.
“It is unfortunate that this is a black government which is now in power and things are not right at all,” he added.
He said it is ironic that most Dobsonville people think electrification of the township and tarring of the roads was only started after the ruling party took over.
“The truth of the matter is that, during the Bantu Council administration, the first Dobsonville mayor, Don Messi went to Germany to borrow money for construction of tarred roads in Dobsonville.
“It was at the time during which Dobsonville was not part of Soweto but under the Roodepoort Municipality.
“However, with the little resources available to us then, we managed to construct tar roads, install taps and supply electricity to households,” Nkatlo said.
He said that during apartheid, black people were earning peanuts compared to today, but they paid for their services.
Nkatlo said that it was the same Bantu administration which brought about the establishment of Orange Farm township despite the numerous challenges they faced.
He said that Orange Farm was a fully developed township which was constantly growing.
“During apartheid, our council members spoke to the masses and encouraged them to pay for services.
“The money generated was instrumental in the construction of more houses in the old Dobsonville.
“We engaged landowners and encouraged them to give or sell farms situated within the township to the council.
“We convert the farms to residential areas. Our people then were only paying R5 for services,” said Nkatlo.
Nkatlo concluded that despite the lack of support for his administration because of the apartheid era, they managed to roll up their sleeves and got the work done for the betterment of the citizenry.
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