MIKE WATERS, Member of Parliament DA, writes:
This is an open letter to the mayor of the City of Ekurhuleni, Clr Mzwandile Masina.
Over the past week alone, councillors in my constituency of Kempton Park have been subjected to continuous and lengthy service delivery disruptions, the most severe being an electricity blackout for 80 hours in the Van Riebeeck Park area.
Councillors face the brunt of the residents’ anger and frustration as they are not only the cold face of the metro but the first port of call for residents.
To add to the frustrations, residents do not understand that ward councillors cannot instruct officials to do anything. They can merely report service delivery matters and rely on the “efficiency” of your administration to attend to them.
Over the past seven days, councillors have had to deal with the following water and electricity outages (not load-shedding). In some cases, residents were subjected to both water and electricity outages simultaneously. Outages range from several to 80 hours.
Electricity outages: Van Riebeeck Park, Birchleigh
Water outages: Esther Park, Edleen, Kempton West, Terenure, Birch Acres, Birchleigh, Glen Marais, Cresslawn, Norkem Park, Allen Grove, Birchleigh North, Nimrod Park, Kempton CBD, Kempton Park extensions, Spartan, Croydon.
The fact that residents are subjected to lengthy interruptions of basic services is unacceptable as I am sure you would agree. Coupled with other service delivery issues, such as irregular refuse collection, potholes, illegal shebeens, illegal building of back rooms and the general decay of Kempton Park, one has to ask what exactly your administration is doing and what your priorities are?
It is not unreasonable for residents to expect basic services from your metro. If you can’t provide them, what can you provide?
Ward councillors are not empowered to ensure service delivery takes place, yet they take all the abuse and strain when services collapse. You, on the other hand, are protected from the public’s outrage and carry on about your day in oblivious bliss.
Mr Mayor, the residents of Kempton Park want to know when you will roll up your sleeves, take an interest in our plight and start providing reliable basic services, which we pay for?
The letter has been referred to the mayor for comment.
