A crisis of collapsing infrastructure has gripped Emgwenya community. Frustrated residents are pleading with the Emakhazeni Local Municipality (ELM) to intervene and rescue their rapidly deteriorating town.

The community describes their area as a ‘ghost town’, with services grinding to a halt, leaving locals feeling abandoned by the very government structures meant to serve them.

The primary concerns are a severely deteriorated road network and a consistent supply of dirty, contaminated tap water.

Despite public assurances from the municipality, residents say the reality on the ground is dire.

The ELM spokesperson, Kit Nkosi, claimed that certain roads were being attended to and that the water supply has being tested and deemed safe for consumption.

However, residents are strongly refuting these claims. They have provided visual evidence of brown water flowing from their taps and argue that the widespread presence of large potholes proves the roads have long been neglected.

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According to residents, attempts to engage the ELM have been met only with empty promises, forcing them to watch their town decay.

Andrea Marais, a local resident, expressed deep disillusionment with the government. “I am disappointed in the so-called democratic government that is treating people like animals. Our roads are dilapidated, even though we have a municipality with officials who are supposed to service us. The water is worse and they are doing nothing about it. Now the municipality lies to the media that the water is safe, but how can someone drink water that is dirty? The provincial government has also abandoned us because we have been asking them to intervene with no response,” Marais said.

Another resident, Gert Botha, highlighted the widespread maintenance failure. He noted that there are “huge potholes in every street” and estimated that some streets have not seen maintenance for about two years.

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“We are now living in a ghost town where everything is dysfunctional, from the town to the rural areas,” Botha lamented. “Now we are forced to buy drinking water because the municipality failed to give us the basic right, which is clean water to drink. I am begging the municipality to remember we are humans and we need the services that we deserve.”

Skhumbuzo Khumalo echoed the frustration, suggesting that the municipality is not worried about servicing the area because they know community protests have failed to bring about change in the past.

“The ELM is taking advantage, knowing that even if we protest it won’t make any difference since we tried that before and it did not work. Everything is falling apart while there are people who are getting paid while we struggle to get the service. We always get empty promises from the mayor and her officials. We need serious intervention from all parts of government.”

At the time of publishing, ELM spokesperson Kit Nkosi was unavailable to respond to Lowvelder’s media enquiry regarding residents’ devastating claims and urgent calls for intervention.