Not so long ago, Umjindi was indeed a sunshine municipality. The roads in both Emjindini and Barberton were well maintained, traffic and street lights were functional and business was more organised than it is now.
There was proper zoning for business, churches and residential areas. Social amenities such as sports fields, swimming pools, libraries and recreational parks were in order.
Refuse removal was done systematically. Residents and business people knew exactly which sections were collected on which days and at what times. The streets were sufficiently lit during the night.
Investors, both locally and nationwide were eager to be part of opportunities available in town. It was a town full of promise and life and was rated among the best in the province.
However, over the past few years Umjindi has gradually turned into a place of chaos- a seemingly directionless town plagued by serious issues in need of attention.
The “good story to tell” has changed.
Of course challenges such as rural to urban migration have compounded the situation and have added pressure on service delivery, but surely there should be a way of adapting the municipality’s systems to current demands?
A point of departure should be to ascertain what brought our municipality to its current state in the first place.
Is it mismanagement, corruption or is Umjindi merely reflecting the high levels of corruption in the country’s economy? Nonetheless, it is time to look for solutions that will restore council to its former glory. In-fact a massive injection of capital into the municipality is required to rehabilitate infrastructure and restore services.We have already witnessed significant work on our sewer systems and roads in Emjindini.
Over the years, I have regarded council officials with disdain but recently the words of a community leader made me rethink my stance on the issue.
I had always pointed fingers at the council officials for turning the municipality – once the pride of Barbertonians – into a jungle of sorts, but I have come to the realisation that while the council authorities are largely to blame for the current state of affairs, we as residents have also contributed to deterioration of infrastructure and that onus is on us to right our wrongs.
We are also responsible for littering our area. We need to respect our town. If we all place litter in the bin and do not dump our refuse on the streets, our municipal area would be a cleaner place.
If we could curb vandalism the positive impact of service delivery could once again be enjoyed by all residents.
Barberton residents are therefore urged to own up to their mistakes and change their behaviour so that we can restore our town to its former glory.
