Sithembile Library remains closed to the public
"As Sithembile residents were adamant they would set fire to the building, we were forced to wait before allowing the public access to the library..."
Despite being opened on March 2, the Sithembile Library has not been used by the public.
The facility was officially opened by the Minister of Arts and Culture, Bongiwe Sithole-Moloi, shortly before the Ward 3 by-election in Sithembile, which is also the last time anyone stepped foot inside.
Mbalenhle Mthethwa, a resident of Sithembile who attended the opening ceremony, said: “As a community, we were very happy and looked forward to making use of the library, even though [some] were not happy about the way the municipality went about hiring staff for the library. Personally, I was looking forward to using the free Wi-Fi and computers to help me look for jobs.”
Rosemary Griffiths, Acting Manager for Municipal Small Enterprises gives a different spin on the matter. She says the Sithembile community threatened to burn down the library because ‘outside’ residents were hired.
“We hired two qualified people from Sithembile and the rest of the staff were hired by the Department of Arts and Culture. As Sithembile residents were adamant they would set fire to the building, we were forced to wait before allowing the public access to the library.”
Security guards can still be seen patrolling outside the facility. Bongani Mthembu, a librarian at the Glencoe Library, says a sewage problem was also attended to by Umzinyathi Municipality, with three toilets still to be connected.
“Umzinyathi is providing us with the pipes and we have added other equipment, such as the photocopy machine. We expect the library to be properly open within a month or so. Residents should understand the protests and threats over the hiring of outside staff has delayed the entire process. We as municipal workers, had no say in the hiring process. Those who applied and were unsuccessful should understand this was departmental procedure, not our call.”
Ward 3 by-election puts Sithembile in a party mood
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