Even though it was Ascension Day on Thursday, community members from Sasko, Kwatas, Bhekuzulu, as well as town made their way to the Cecil Emmett Hall for a meeting.
Ward 8 Councillor Elaine Rodway hosted the meeting and invited Ward 9 Councillor Magda Viktor to join. The aim was to enable community members to voice their frustrations about the lack of service delivery in town. The opportunity was granted to residents to pose questions – which either one of the two councillors would attempt to answer or alternatively address the issues with the relevant departments within the municipality. Eckhardt Meyer said that even though residents were invited to the meeting, they became despondent because there is meeting-after-meeting and they still don’t get any answers, so they give up on the pressing issues of the town.
“The first thing I want to note is that the budget roadshow the mayor had with us on May 2 in Ward 9 was a total disgrace to the Vryheid community. He needs to be told that. We’ve had enough now! We will not take this any longer! We cannot continue like this! There is no management in and around Vryheid – everything is virtually falling apart. Concerning the budget speech, we reject whatever he said that night and we declare a dispute. He never delivered a budget speech. This has been the same with previous mayors as well,” said Meyer.
He continued to explain the frustration with each administration, declaring that the community will not accept the proposed budget or the price hike of 4% in any rates. He suggested that the mayor approach the community with a decent budget on paper, which gets handed out to the public. He said the mayor’s conduct – being late to the meeting and allowing people to sit in the dark – is an insult to the community. “We want a new budget roadshow, with a complete list of every item they propose to implement, and the future for the new financial year. We want papers distributed, with the whole budget printed on it.” Meyer continued by indicating that, in the past, the issues they list in the budget never get sorted out – for example the Zaailaagte line that has been faulty and budgeted for since 2009. He referred to Vryheid’s only working transformer, asking why the other transformer burned in 2018 and if it was insured, whether the insurance paid out. He wanted to know what happened to the insurance money if the transformer was insured, wanting to know why the transformer wasn’t fixed or replaced. “We visited every plant with the lawyer last week and not one plant is acceptable. The sewerage pumps aren’t working and sewage runs straight into Klipfontein Dam that everyone drinks from every day; it’s criminal! When we get the ‘Green Falcons’ in, they will test the water and I can guarantee you that the municipal manager or the mayor or the technical director will get locked up. What they are allowing is a crime; allowing people to drink sewer water.”
He brought up a few other issues like potholes, the availability of water from Grootgewacht and Bloemveld Dam, the condition of the landfill site and the people who live there, and the cutting of grass in town, as well as the open electrical boxes under councillors’ attention. He concluded that communities are suffering because of the municipality’s mismanagement. “Only we as a community can change what is happening.”
“The goal of the meeting was to gather information from each community within ward 8. We were also pleased to have members of ward 9 in attendance, as well as Cllr Viktor. I would like to thank everyone who made the effort to attend. As a community, we are blessed with diversity, but is in unity that we truly find our strength. And that was the highlight for me as Councillor of Ward 8, to see our citizens coming together and sharing our concerns as a collective. Many of our challenges can be overcome if we stand together. A substantial amount of the complaints that came through are issues that have already been reported several times, by myself as well as the community, and this highlights a need for a more efficient approach in dealing with and responding to these complaints. We must find a way to overcome the challenges that stand in the way of prompt and effective reaction to service delivery interruptions. We should also be working towards finding solutions to reduce the recurring interruptions to basic services. These should be proper long term solutions. We must ensure reliable basic services to promote and encourage investment in our town and opportunities for employment. Without a strong foundation of basic services, we cannot grow or move forward as a community.
The ward 8 community meeting that was held at Cecil Emmett Hall on May 29 has restored hope for me that, no matter the challenges that may arise, we can face them as a community that will stand together. After all, you can’t spell ‘community’ without ‘unity’ and that is our strength,” said Councillor Elaine Rodway.

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The news provided to you in this link comes to you from the editorial staff of the Vryheid Herald, a sold newspaper distributed in the Vryheid area.