The City of Mbombela (CoM) held a five-day mayoral imbizo in Barberton, as part of its plans to accelerate service delivery.

The imbizo, led by the CoM’s mayor, Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko, accompanied by top officials from the municipality, started in the city hall on July 10.
Community members stressed the need for the mayor to develop programmes to revive the area. Topping their wish list were pothole repairs and that water shortages be addressed. The list also included dealing with crime, drug dealers, prostitution, cleanliness and fixing decaying buildings in the town.

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The community members requested that the mayor must ensure that service delivery is done properly and that the needs of the people are prioritised to avoid unnecessary protest. “We want the potholes in the area to be fixed because they are damaging the image of the area. We want a permanent water solution and functioning street lights in all areas all the time to reduce crime at night.

“We also want the mayor and her leadership to ensure that municipal workers do their jobs according to the law and respond to community queries when they are called upon. All the promises that are made during this imbizo must be kept, and she must make sure that she follows up on them,” said the community members.

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In response, Makushe-Mazibuko said the imbizo is part of the municipality’s intervention to speed up some service delivery issues and provide the community members with a platform with which to express their concerns to their leaders.

“The main aim is to make sure that we touch all areas in the ward they have complained about. We cannot do everything in five days, but at least we will know the challenges and have a better understanding of how to resolve them. As for the other problems the community members raised, we will take them seriously and make sure that we attend to them. I have instructed our officials that they must make sure that service delivery is always sped up, even after the imbizo,” she said.

The mayor also condemned illegal connections of water and electricity, as these lead to the failure of services, and asked the communities to report this to the authorities.