MK Party protests over Endumeni service delivery crisis
Party demands answers over refuse collection, municipal vehicles and EPWP jobs in crisis hit Endumeni municipality.
The MK Party in Endumeni staged a demonstration outside the Dundee municipal offices on Tuesday morning, September 8, protesting what it described as the municipality’s failure to provide basic services.
The protest comes as Endumeni continues to struggle with several operational problems.
Refuse collection remains outstanding after expired vehicle licences and mechanical breakdowns left the municipality with an insufficient fleet to collect rubbish.
The municipality has also had its internet service cut off after failing to pay its service provider, while Eskom disconnected electricity to Talana Museum over an outstanding municipal account.
Mayor Mkhize, and Speaker Nsibabade addressed the crowd over their grievances while security officials monitored the gathering.
MK Party members also demanded answers about approximately 60 temporary jobs being offered through the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) to clean riverbanks in Wards 2 and 6.
The protesters questioned how the positions were advertised and filled, claiming the process had not been transparent.
Questions over EPWP jobs
A meeting held at the municipality last week to discuss the jobs issue failed to resolve the matter. The meeting had been called by Ward 6 councillor Zita Shelembe, but Municipal Manager Musa Hadebe reportedly walked out.
Hadebe said the media could not attend the meeting.
Meanwhile, Thandelwethu Manda has been seconded to Endumeni by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) as a specialist to help address the municipality’s ongoing problems.
Endumeni Residents’ Association member FC Bester welcomed the intervention but said the municipality faced serious problems that would take time to resolve.
He raised particular concern about vehicles in the electrical department that had reportedly been taken off the road because their licence discs had expired.
“Clearly, Mr Manda has an unenviable job to fix years of decay,” said Bester.
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