ANC and DA to blame for unkempt areas – residents take a stand
With council members still fighting among themselves, residents have decided to take matters into their own hands.
Since the beginning of 2017, Krugersdorpers have been contacting the News in droves, asking whether or not the Mogale City municipality’s workers are still on holiday, because little has been done about the look of the town.
One of the main complaints is that grass in public spaces is not being cut regularly and is posing a hazard.
The News set out to investigate why the grass is not being cut as it should be and discovered an underlying problem, namely that the current ruling coalition party (DA, EFF and FF+) and the ANC are at loggerheads with one another and this is taking up all the resources and time that should be devoted to ensuring service delivery.
Because the DA does not have a outright majority within the municipality, it cannot simply make decisions and put them into effect. It would seem that the ANC holds enough power to sabotage the efforts made by the DA to get the city back on its feet.
Photo: Facebook/ Krugersdorp Staan Saam
Information brought to the News’ attention states that the DA uses contracts and subcontractors to cut the grass, and not municipal workers. However, there are ANC operatives who are in a position to not pay the contractors. Some operatives have, in the past, failed to pay the subcontractors and this has made them unwilling to cut the grass. Despite the fact that the contractors should be paid on completion of their jobs, the municipality only pays these contractors 60–90 days after work is completed, because of a cash flow problem.
The reason the municipality gives for using contractors to cut the grass is the high staff vacancy rate.
The ANC has in its turn, pointed out that the new Executive Mayor, Michael Holenstein, is unfamiliar with the channels within the council; for instance, he did not know the correct channels to use during the special council meeting held on 31 January, when these problems were being addressed.
However, neither party in the municipality is giving its full attention to the issues – instead, they are fighting among themselves, and since the ANC has reappointed its Whip and Speaker, municipal employees have no idea who to listen to.
Things are however beginning to look up in the city regardless of the absence of leadership, because community members have finally taken their town back into their own hands. Many volunteers spent the first weekend of February cleaning the sidewalks and road islands themselves.
The Facebook group, Krugersdorp Staan Saam, showed how these volunteers cleared the streets of bakkie-loads of rubbish and garden rubble. And on Tuesday, 7 February, a large number of municipal parks employees were out cutting grass on the islands on Paardekraal Drive heading towards Randfontein.
In addition, a team from Plantwise, a local business, has started cutting the grass at Sterkfontein Cemetery. They are also pruning the trees, in an effort to make the cemetery look as good as new once they are done. Although this could take up to six months to achieve, they are doing the job as quickly as possible, and have vowed not to do half a job.
The next few weeks will show whether or not the municipality is going to maintain and improve on the successes they have achieved thus far, or slide back into the inter-party conflict.
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