A series of angry protest marches have shaken Nquthu in recent weeks.
The marchers have complained about the poor condition of the roads in the area, the lack of streetlights, litter, roaming livestock, refuse that is not collected, high rates and high electricity costs, among other issues
Lack of maintenance of grave sites was another complaint. “Water is not provided to all areas, but those areas that are, are favoured by municipal workers trying to run businesses on the side,” protesters told the Courier.
Residents of Luvisi also held a march where they also complained about poor roads, inhumane toilets and a lack of accountability.
However, they did thank Mayor Emily Molefe for ensuring that houses have been built. The mayor signed the letter stating that she received the memorandum.

Refuse dumped in the Nquthu CBD has angered residents.

 
Municipality responds
In a response, Thokozani Nyandeni, Head of Communications at  Nquthu Municipality, said a meeting will be convened to address the complaints.“It must be highlighted that the municipality and the  Nquthu Ratepayers’ Association meets regularly to discuss matters which they feel are of importance.

“In their memorandum they have raised a number of issues: poor roads due to lack of a proper drainage system, streetlights, construction of a town hall, high electricity tariffs, and many more. “municipality discusses these issues, and some of the issues they are referring to have been discussed before.

Demonstrations on the move in Nquthu

“We have advertised for a service provider to install three overflow lights in Nquthu and one in Nondweni, and also advertised for service providers to design and quantify the costs of the drainage system and internal roads layout in town residential area. ““The municipality had distributed ‘wheelie’ refuse bins free of charge to the community.

“This was a user-friendly method of refuse storage, since plastic bags get torn open and these 200-litre ones are much bigger than the size of black bags. The municipality collects refuse weekly in all areas. It would have cost implications.”