Letter: Get contractors on merit

Zahir Danbar of Salt Rock writes:

In response to ‘More delays on streetlights’ (Courier, February 1), why does the ANC-led Stanger municipality have to scramble to find a way to fix the street lights?

Spokesman Sipho Mkhize says they are “struggling” to review contracts to fix up streetlights. There’s no need to struggle, get someone based on merit. Does this municipality know the struggle is now over? Get out of your fantasy world, KwaDukuza municipality.

Mkhize says KDM had been reported for unfair tender practices. Mkhize, what’s unfair is hardworking ratepayers witnessing street lights burning for 24 hours while residents and businesses lose out due to load shedding and abuse of electricity by a negligent KDM.

There are not lots of confusing parts needed to fix street lights, mainly globes and photo sensors that switch the lights on or off. From my inspection, 90% of the street lights that are on 24 hours do not have these switches. The contractors probably stole and sold those switches, like what happened in Durban.

Councillor Commie Nhleko called electrical department executive director Sibusiso Jali incompetent. No, he’s past incompetent, in fact he’s floating on affirmative action and not merit. Imagine a black man like Nhleko saying that when Jali was not there, work got done. With Jali there, there’s chaos!

Nhleko wants senior politicians to intervene. Why are they not getting involved to speed this up or will they only come out from their hiding places just before elections?

ANC Cllr Van Whye says that KDM has been like this since 2008. What is KDM doing with the ratepayer’s money?

Fire Jali and put in someone based on merit, because if he can’t have the street light fixed outside his own wife’s house, can he have the street lights elsewhere fixed?

What are the senior ANC members and big wigs doing to fix this small ongoing problem, that its airhead managers can’t fix? I hope they don’t blame apartheid.