Duduza residents in ward 102 in Thembisa are faced with poor service delivery issues and demand the ward councillor to take action.
There is continuous flooding in the area, especially near the bridge which divides two wards.
Thulasizwe Kgwebu, a community member, said it always becomes a mess because people even struggle to pass by the bridge when it rains.
“Nearby houses always get flooded as water level raises and results to flooding then water comes from the bridge and spreads out of control.
“We ask for the bridge to be reconstructed for the safety of our people and the safety of our children, who might one bad day decide to cross the bridge and be swept away.”
Godfrey Nakani, a community member who stays closer to the bridge, said, “It is difficult for us to sleep when it rains because everything in the house gets wet and damaged. Actually, after the rain stops, we have to start from scratch, and move the furniture to the sunlight to dry off.
“I have been residing here since 2018 and cars cannot even pass once the bridge is flooded. They have to wait till the water subsides so they can drive slowly and carefully.
“Last year, we had to reconstruct our neighbour’s shack to change the direction in which the door faced because it was always a mess.”
Ward 102 councillor Mokibelo Samson Sebetha said his office has not received such complaints from the community and calls on the affected community to contact the customer care centre for any issues related to service delivery.
“The storm water running underneath the bridge is actually a boundary separating two wards, which is ward 1 and ward 102.
“Based on the agreement with stakeholders, the roads have to be wide open after the reblocking process is fully complete.
“Another main issue is that in Duduza, there is a fight for power which continuously prohibits the process of development. There was supposed to be a process of electrifying the reblocked area, but it is all on hold.
“There are illegal connections, dumping hotspots which were reported and we sent relevant people to clean up and pick up the rubbish. We say if there are other hotspots, let them be reported to the customer care centre so we know where to focus our resources next time.”
Sebetha also said there has been corruption happening during the reblocking process, where there were certain people selling stands in his name, which he knew nothing about.
“I had to attend several meetings about allegations against me and I had to call senior officials to investigate who is really selling the stands.
“The road department will be engaged to check the bridge problem and the waste management department will be requested to collect waste soon.
“Illegal connections are always problematic as some people report months later in meetings that someone died from an electric shock,” said Sebetha.
The number to call the customer care centre is 0860 543 000, a reference number will be given to the customer and if the matter is not attended to, you can lodge a complaint thereafter.
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