KEMPTONIANS were left stranded and inconvenienced on Wednesday as various municipal services were closed.

Kempton Civic Centre’s water and electricity department and the licensing department were both closed as staff members were not at work.

This is, according to Ekurhuleni Metro spokesperson, Themba Gadebe, due to a “brief meeting” between the mayor, Clr Mzwandile Masina, and municipal employees.

The meeting, which Gadebe described as having to do with employee relations, was held at Boksburg Stadium. Gadebe estimated it should be done by noon. Nevertheless, the services unavailable would remain so for the rest of the day.

Signs informing residents that the office at the civic centre would be closed, were up. However, EXPRESS was told these signs were only put up this morning.

A visibly upset resident at the civic centre vented his anger at EXPRESS, saying they should have at least warned the community beforehand.

“They should have put up these signs yesterday. What good does it do to have them up only in the morning? People took a day off from work to come to the centre only to find it’s closed. This day has now gone to waste,” the man said with frustration.

Licence disc renewals was the only service operating at the civic centre.

At the licensing department, the testing centre was completely closed, there were no staff members in the offices and there were no signs pasted on the windows or doors.

The few people who had booked driver’s licence appointments were allowed to take them.

The clinic and library at the civic centre were operating as per normal.