Residents complain about service delivery
Tembisa residents packed the Rabasotho hall to the rafters during the mayoral Imbizo held on Wednesday last week.
The MMC for Roads and Transport in Ekurhuleni, Clr Thumbu Mahlangu, briefed residents about the government’s achievements in the township to date.
He said residents from the Madelakufa Informal Settlement will move to Strydomland, where the government is building new houses for them.
He also said people from other informal settlements like Vusumuzi and Freedom Square will also get their RDP houses in the not too distant future.
He said the biggest problem the government faces at the moment is that there is no land to build houses for the people, and pointed out that they have decided to build flats in areas like Clayville and Essellen Park.
“We have the welfare of the people at heart. We are also calling on the people to help the government in making Tembisa and the surrounding areas clean. Do not litter the streets with rubbish. Let us use the dustbins government has provided,” he said.
When it comes to alleged corruption in the government, Clr Mahlangu said people should report all corrupt activities to the relevant authorities.
“But as residents, we do not have to promote corrupt activities,” he said.
He said it appeared that residents were in the forefront of bribing government officials.
“The metro official’s can attest to this. When they stop cars on the road, drivers often get out of the car holding money to bribe them. But I am happy that our own metro police does not take bribes,” he said, to big applause from residents.
He said in order to create job opportunities for the youth in Tembisa, the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) will open offices at the Winnie Mandela Informal Settlement. After addressing residents, people were given a chance to ask questions.
Even though many asked questions about service delivery and corruption in the human settlement department, residents from Freedom Square Informal Settlement complained about being left out of government projects, and that there are big rats that have invaded their shacks.
One resident said, “We have complained to the councillor about the situation, but nothing has been done to date.”
When responding to the community’s response, Clr Mahlangu said all the complains where noted down and will be discussed with the departments concerned, and residents will be briefed about about developments at a later date.
