Ingagane residents are speaking out about neglect in their village.
Damaged, non-functioning and even missing street lights have residents fearing for their safety, with nightfall bringing an ominous shroud of darkness and the criminal element.
As residents commented in a recent meeting, they feel utterly neglected.
“I have to run from person to person asking for help with problems,” one resident groused.
Despite having a Ward Committee and Ward Councillor to serve Ingagane, many issues take months to resolve and sometimes are never dealt with.
The lack of municipal feedback has left many feeling despondent.
“People are fed up with getting no response and now our community meetings have low attendance.”
Beyond troubles with street lights, the village has no demarcated street names, which makes it difficult for emergency services to find locations.
Residents said even delivery services said finding addresses was a mission.
Another problem residents noted was the poor sport facilities in the village, despite investment by the municipality some years ago.
“We try to keep the children busy but the facilities aren’t up to standard.”
Residents added illegal dumping of refuse – often right next to skip bins – had created a spin-off problem of roaming animals foraging on Ingagane’s streets.
“We even had donkeys tearing open bags to eat the contents.”
These problems were communicated to the municipality two weeks ago, yet no official response has been given at this time.
Yet residents were quick to praise the municipal Waste Department.
They thanked the workers for doing an altogether unpleasant job, and said the department at least deserved recognition.
However, the other problems have many gritting their teeth in frustration.
“We are sick and tired of being ignored!” they concluded.
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