Residents call on municipality to deliver
Locals were also concerned about the dangers of electricity cables connecting power from street poles. The cables lay exposed on the ground and posed a danger to children and domestic animals. The residents claimed that three schoolchildren had died while six cows and a goat had been electrocuted because of the exposed power cables.
MATSULU – Residents from three settlements in the area went on a rampage on Thursday, April 29, near the N4 and blockaded roads to demand electricity and other services from Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM).
They barricaded the only road that enters the Matsulu, Emathuneni and Khutsong areas, burning tyres and expressing their dissatisfaction about alleged service delivery failure by MLM.
According to Mr Timothy Ngomane from Khutsong, residents want the municipality to provide them with water and electricity, a request he said they had been making since 2009.
“We have written to the council requesting them to honour their promise, but nothing has materialised so far. We are losing patience over their failed promises,” said Ngomane.
He also mentioned that the communities have in the past sent a 22-member delegation to the mayor, Mr Sibusiso Mathonsi, requesting an engagement with him but they were told to make an appointment with his office.
“This is not a political issue, that is why we said to one another that we won’t wear any shirt belonging to a political party. We have to stand united as communities for our rights,” Ngomane added.
When Mathonsi went to the scene to appease the protesters, he was met with hostile confrontation. The protesters refused to talk to him and requested the presence of the premier, Mr David Mabuza, or president Jacob Zuma by extension. It was only the MEC for community safety, security and liaison, Mr Vusi Shongwe who was well received. Shongwe was taken on an area inspection by the protesters.
Locals were also concerned about the dangers of electricity cables connecting power from street poles. The cables lay exposed on the ground and posed a danger to children and domestic animals.
MLM spokesman, Mr Joseph Ngala, said although the settlements fall within the jurisdiction of the municipality, it causes a backlog when people move into areas illegally.
“It presents a number of challenges for government to provide services. There are also other matters the municipality is consulting on with the traditional authority to ensure delivery of services in areas which we are not in a position to divulge at this point,” he said.
Ngala added that, apart from basic services like water and electricity, roads and other amenities have to be provided to the new settlements and proper planning must precede people moving into areas.
The residents claimed that three schoolchildren had died while six cows and a goat had been electrocuted because of the exposed power cables. Three houses also allegedly burnt down because of faulty electrical lines in Khutsong, Marikana, and Emathuneni.
One protester, Mr Hudson Ngomane, lost his son due to electrocution. Ngomane said that it had been a traumatic experience for him and his family.
“I have been using sleeping pills since my son died, because I can’t sleep. I can’t handle it when people call me by my surname because it makes me remember that I have lost an heir,” he said.
