Service delivery in Standerton hovers in the balance and could have a vast different outcome once a community-based organisation gets all its ducks in a row.
Lekwa Ratepayers Association had a busy week after meeting with private companies on Monday, 25 January, as well as the Lekwa Municipality and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) on Tuesday, 26 January.
Representatives of a WhatsApp-group, Surviving Lekwa, and the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), were also present.
The Standerton Advertiser contacted the chairman of the Lekwa Ratepayers Association, Mr Fanie Potgieter, on Friday, 29 January for feedback on the meeting and also spoke to Ms Wilma Venter of Surviving Lekwa the previous day.
“I would like to thank CoGta for the opportunity to put our problems on the table,” Ms Venter said.
“I also urge the community to work together to restore Standerton to its former glory.”
Mr Potgieter referred to CoGTA’s constitutional mandate to communities and strongly expressed his dissatisfaction with service delivery issues reduced to mere technical problems at the meeting.
“It is a smoke screen,” he said.
He ultimately believes that the problems lie with lack of political leadership and management of municipal employees.
“They are not held accountable.”
The outcome of the meeting was according to him, a project method with price lists supplied.
According to him, money will have to be solicited from the district municipality, provincial government, national government all the way to the Development Bank.
Electricity, water and sewage issues were topics of conversation between the newspaper and the chairman.
As regards to electricity, Ratepayers’ legal team will be engaging with Eskom to discuss a settlement.
They took the power utility to court about load shedding and subsequently charged them with contempt of court on Thursday, 3 September last year.
The High Court in Gauteng ruled in favour of them and Eskom was to increase, alternatively restore the maximum load supply to Lekwa to the level supplied before the introduction of 55MVA.
Mr Potgieter mentioned the cases of Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd and Others v Resilient Properties (Pty) Ltd and Others (Case no 663/19); Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd v Sabie Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, and Others (Case no 664/19); Thaba Chweu Local Municipality and Others v Sabie Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, and Others.
The High Court upheld the principal argument advanced by Resilient and the Chambers that Eskom failed to comply with its constitutional and statutory obligations to make every reasonable effort to settle the dispute in relation to the implementation of its decision to interrupt the supply of bulk electricity.
With regard to water supply, Mr Potgieter said the problems at the Water Treatment Plant in Standerton should be seen in the light of what had happened during Stage 4 of the lockdown.
After the pump station flooded and the electric motors were damaged, new motors were put in, but water supply remains an enormous problem.
According to him, Rooikoppen is a telling example where locals do not have running water, yet water is running down the streets.
“Leadership and management have to be addressed, public private partnerships have to be formed and new technology has to be used.”
Sewage and pollution of the Vaal River were the next topics.
“I have it on good authority that 99 per cent of sewage in Azalea ends up in the river.”
The association is intent on the privatisation of the sewage plant, saying it is non-functional and posted such on their Facebook-page.
“If we cannot come to an agreement, we will go to court to pursue this,” their statement read.
According to Mr Potgieter, the association is in the process of finding a model for water and sanitation works from a financial institution and the Development Bank.
Various role players in distributed systems can be involved to treat sewage streams into clean water.
He added that the financial institution mentioned has a keen interest in ecological sustainability and the repayment terms are favourable.
Mention was made of the Kgetlengrivier Ratepayers’ Association that took over water and sewage provision from the Kgetlengrivier Municipality in the North-West.
A North-West High Court ruled in December in favour of the association because of the municipality’s failure to supply water sustainably to residents of Koster and Swartruggens.
Politics are also on the agenda.
They have collaborated with the Lekwa Community Forum and will pursue the local elections together, with registration as a party underway.
Mr Potgieter emphasised that it will be an a-political party.
“We need representation on council level and believe this community, its leaders and business owners, can run itself without politicians and a corrupted system.”
The Standerton Advertiser sent a WhatsApp-message to the communications manager of the municipality, Ms Thobeka Mtshiselwa, on Monday, 1 February, asking for comment on the meeting.
Readers will be updated once feedback becomes available.
