‘Roadworks disturbing our lives!’

Residents of White City in Mamelodi East face difficulties every day due to the roadworks that have begun in the area.

They said they tolerated the dust and lack of water when the main water pipes were damaged, but that since 25 July the street lights have not worked, since the contractors tampered with electricity poles, and that they had now had enough. The roadworks have been ongoing since the beginning of the year, causing great conflict between residents and construction workers.

Jay Dlamini, one of the upset residents, voiced his concerns about the construction company awarded the tender to work in White City. “We are upset that there are no working street lights, and sometimes when we come home from work, we find that the road has been blocked and there is no one that we can speak to. We have been requesting that they keep us informed if the road is going to be blocked, but nobody does, nobody cares. On 2 October, when we were about to leave the yard for work, we saw that a huge donga had filled with water from the damaged pipe. We approached the workers about it, and they decided to pour soil into it so that we could exit our driveways and get to the main road,” Dlamini explained.

“The car got stuck in the mud, and we were told to tow the car ourselves as they (the workers) were busy. The car was damaged because of this. We all pay our taxes and this is what we get!” Dlamini added that they had tried several times to get in touch with the contractor, but their calls went unanswered.

Simon Manaka, a resident in White City, also voiced his concerns: “The community was not informed about any development in the area. All we want is to be informed if there is going to be a road closure that will prevent us from getting into our yards, so that we can plan around this,” he said.

Manaka said their ward councillor did not want to help them and he did not know who to turn to for help.

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