Anger boils over onto the N4

MJEJANE –  Hundreds of angry community members blockaded the road with rocks three kilometres outside town, resulting in it having to be closed for a short while.

Commuters on their way to work were stranded as no buses or taxis were allowed to use the road and freight trucks were backed up hundreds of metres while unhappy residents wielded posters, sticks and chains, insisting to see an ANC councillor.

People driving to work from Marloth Park and Komatipoort had to take a detour, kilometres further than their usual route. Ms Madeleine Anderson of Marloth Park said she and her husband had to drive via Tonga and Schoemansdal where the roads were riddled with potholes.

When Corridor Gazette arrived at the scene, the local SAPS were present and although picketers were shouting and dancing, everything seemed to be under control and relatively peaceful.

The protesters told the paper that they had been experiencing problems with service delivery for the past 10 years and that they now had had enough.

They claimed that they did not have access to running water and after investigating these allegations, it was discovered that certain areas of the trust relied on JoJo tanks which were filled by the Nkomazi Local Municipality (NLM). Due to its rapid growth, NLM battles to provide everyone with electricity within what they claim, is a strained budget.

Some residents told Corridor Gazette that the municipal manager, Mr Dan Ngwenya and the mayor, Ms Thulisile Khoza, “lived in their own Nkandlas while we have to live like animals”.

The ostentatious homes of these two councillors had been a bone of contention since they were built on the trust’s land where no rates and taxes are applicable.

Currently, it was a sought-after area for the poor and wealthy alike, as a stand of 50 by 50 metres could be purchased for as little as R10 000.

No rates and taxes are paid as in the suburban areas of the surrounding towns and water is free. There was also no electricity connection fee. Properties in so-called white areas are extremely expensive and even wealthy black people are opting for building literal mansions in Mjejane, at a fraction of the price charged for houses in Nkomazi towns. However, legalities surrounding building on trust ground continued to be a grey area and according to Ms Mariette Preddy, local DA councillor, who was at the scene to listen to the grievances, this issue was at the heart of the problem and not only the lack of service delivery.

According to the spokesman for NLM, Mr Cyril Ripinga, the influx of people into the area and no proper census figures of how many people were actually living there to base their financial planning on, made it increasingly difficult for the municipality to cope with the growth in the area and the budget was strained just to maintain existing services. The budget was prepared on outdated census figures and funds had been allocated from national government according to that information.