Local elections: “We are tired of empty promises” – residents say
On Monday, over 1.5-million people in the Tshwane region registered to vote were expected to cast their votes for their ward councillors.
Issues such as unattended water leaks, high electricity bills and crime were on the minds of Pretoria residents as they headed to the polls for municipal elections on Monday.
On Monday, over 1.5-million people in the Tshwane region registered to vote were expected to cast their votes for their ward councillors.
Rekord spoke to some residents as to what their issues were in their communities and what they expected from the next administration.
Residents of JJ Bosmanhuis, a block of flats owned by the Tshwane metro municipality in Silverton, raised issues of having to live for months with dirty water from blocked drains.
The flats have man-made trenches full of dirty water from the blocked drains and the street below it has a stream of water flowing from the water leaks coming from the flats, which residents said have been running for months.
A resident at the flats, Luleka Gqeza, said: “We are tired of empty promises and want service delivery as we go and cast our votes – we ask them to please keep their word”.
“We have with these issues since last year and no one has addressed this; no services have been delivered in this regard.
“The children cannot even play around the yard because it is full of dirty water and it is a problem.”
Like many residents of the east, Gqeza also complained of high electricity bills.
“We want whoever will lead the region to address high electricity rates because it is a problem for most of us. I live in a bachelor flat with one child and per month I get a bill of R1 800, which is quite high.”
She said the municipalities also needed to look into job creation.
“We wish for the municipalities to look into job creation also because many people in our communities are jobless.”
Garsfontein resident Felicity Gehrmann said they had problems with growing crime, uncollected refuse and potholes.
“The big issue is potholes. It takes a long time for the municipality to respond when we complain. We also have issues of uncollected dustbins especially during protests.”
Gehrmann said there was also growing crime in the area.
“The informal settlements are growing. Issues of crime in the areas and illegal dumping sites are not addressed. One of the informal settlements, Plastic, is suffering from crime and the police do not even want to go in there.”
She said although she could not prove it, she believed crimes affecting the suburb came from informal settlements.
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Gehrmann said the area was also suffering from unfixed streetlights.
“There are issues of school transport overloading children. When we report this to the metro police, nothing is done,” she said.
“We have taxi ranks that are filthy; there is so much to change and, as a community, we are willing to work with the municipality.”
Gehrmann, who often leads cleaning initiatives around east communities, said the community and ward councillors needed to unite to tackle problems affecting residents.
Residents said as they went to cast their votes on Monday, they wanted better service delivery from the municipality.
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Caxton Local Media tells readers what they must know on the practicalities of voting, and provides information regarding the right and duty to vote. Where necessary, we de-bunk mis- and disinformation relating to elections.
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