State of affairs in municipality deplorable

An article published by a national multiplatform media outlet, Eyewitness News (EWN), had residents hot under the collar.

The comment by John Ozzah Gwebu on EWN’s Facebook page echoed the majority of opinions: “We have a duty on November 1 to change this nonsense we hear. But those who are on the payroll will differ from me. I know. Because they want to protect the cookie jar.”

EWN “hit the nail on the head,” said another social media user on DA Councillor, Comfort Sibiya’s Facebook page.

The headline of the article, “Thaba Chweu Municipality, a nightmare for business and residents”, urged Spiros Couvaras, a DA councillor, to respond.

“It is quite ironic that we discussed all the issues raised in the EWN article on Tuesday October 12 during the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) meeting,” said Couvaras. The purpose of the IDP was to give the residents an overview of projects planned for the next five years.

“None of the budgets portrayed are feasible. A lot of the funds are made available from grants by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Mpumalanga Provincial Treasury in Mbombela. A huge point of contention for residents is the now infamous Lydenburg Waste Water Treatment Works just outside Lydenburg on the R37 towards Burgersfort. It has not been fully operational for the past four years,” said Couvaras. According to the IDP report, TCLM’s main priority is the sewerage system. Couvaras reiterated that no upgrades have been made, even though R12m has been set aside to do so. The sewerage plant has been vandalised,and there is no security. The smaller pump stations throughout Mashishing and Lydenburg are not working and raw waste is flowing into the Dorps and Spekboom rivers.

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“All the issues raised in the article published by EWN are factually correct. It shows the lack of comprehension and the lack of understanding of how this affects the business sector and the tourism industry in town.

“Major businesses and companies like Glencore Lydenburg Smelter have stoppedoperations. The head offices of other companies have relocated because of the deplorable service delivery in TCLM. However, the businesses that have local branches still assist the town in times of crisis, because they have the technical knowledge. A recent example is repairing the waterworks on the corner of Morgan and Preller streets. The variable speed drives that were installed in the refurbishment of the waterworks were incorrectly commissioned and fitted. This left the majority of the town without water for days,” said Couvaras.  

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