“Service delivery must not be pushed by initiatives like the Gatvol Campaign. Instead, it must be delivered to the people of the City of Mbombela [CoM].” So said Mayor Sibongile Makushe-Mazibuko.

She, the CoM’s senior managers, members of the mayoral committee, some labour unions and the municipal manager, Wiseman Khumalo, gathered at Skukuza from February 9 to 11 for a three-day municipal lekgotla and strategic turnaround planning session.

The focus was on planning for improved service delivery and to discuss the various programmes and all the challenges involved.

Makushe-Mazibuko urged all the municipal leaders to accelerate consistent service delivery and improve their finances. “We have a water problem that needs to be rectified; the roads are dilapidated with potholes and dysfunctional streetlights. We need to come up with solutions that will be effective when we leave the meeting. Then we need to make sure that they are implemented, even though I know funds can be challenging,” she said.

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Makushe-Mazibuko said the biggest challenge the municipality is facing is a lack of cash flow, as revenue is not being collected as it should. “We have a new challenge where a lot of people have moved to solar and alternative energy. Therefore, we do not have much revenue at the end of everything, because people are not buying electricity. The municipality needs to come up with a solution: if we can generate our own electricity and sell it, we should determine how much it is going to cost and how can we profit from it,” she said.

The mayor said the CoM is engaging with provincial and national government to assist the municipality to supply better quality water. She admitted in some areas, the ageing water infrastructure needs to be replaced. An additional dam is needed, but the municipality does not have the more than R1b for such a project.

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With regard to the roads and potholes, Makushe-Mazibuko said some tax payers want the roads to be maintained, while others yet want them to be rebuilt. She said this is a major challenge, as the CoM has to divide the budget accordingly. “We need enough budgets that we can maintain our roads and fix potholes on time. Our traffic lights need serious attention – we cannot afford to have traffic congestion just because they are damaged. We must also bear in mind that we still need to install the streetlights where they don’t exist, not neglecting the ones that are already in place. All of that needs capital, and that’s money we don’t have, but this meeting must come up with those resolutions: Where are we going to get the money?”

She said the municipality recently bought a Jetpatcher to attend to all the potholes within the municipality. “It must be indicated that we will not focus on Mbombela only, but the entire municipality. It has started working since it was delivered mid-January, and training has been conducted. At this stage we are waiting for the material to be delivered, hence the temporary stoppage. We shall be back in operation next week, mid-February. But the good thing is that while we wait for the material, our service providers are busy patching them in the meantime.”

Streetlight repairs already started in December. The mayor said the turnaround depends on challenges such as cable theft, damage to infrastructure and the availability of fittings. “We have assessed all the streetlight challenges and might not be able to fix them all at once,” she said.

Regarding White River’s water challenges, the mayor said they would continue monitoring the town’s water supply as the law requires, with SANS 241 and water quality results from an accredited lab in Pretoria. She said these results are available to the public. “We are aware that the asbestos pipes are old and the entire water network needs to be replaced, but we need at least R1b to do that. We are not just folding our hands and doing nothing about it. We have engaged the National Department of Water and Sanitation and Provincial Government to assist us with funds to resolve the water problem permanently.”

The issue of blocked stormwater drainage was also placed under the spotlight. Makushe-Mazibuko said the drainage is cleaned regularly. “We are aware that there are some that have been damaged for a long time. That has been addressed, and they are going to be repaired,” she said.

“In order to stop littering around the city, we do have officials who are responsible for cleaning the town with the assistance of the Expanded Public Works Programme. But we are all aware people need to stop littering to keep the town clean. I am aware that in places there are no dustbins, but I believe people can keep their garbage with them until they reach the next dustbin,” the mayor said.

“As for student accommodation, we now have three public institutions in our municipality and one private one. The students want to stay where they study; it’s a norm. However, we encourage property owners to follow the right procedures to accommodate them. Those who are found to have not complied are dealt with and we have closed a number of them. But we cannot run away from the fact that we have a need for student accommodation,” she ended her feedback.

She promised that at the next council meeting, a resolution for all the matters discussed in the lekgotla would be taken to the CoM council for approval. “The implementation thereof should be highly effective.”