Councillor accuses Govan Mbeki Municipality of bias against his ward
Masabatha Khubheka says GMM does not render services because his ward is not an ANC stronghold.
Ward 20 Clr Masabatha Khubheka has accused the Govan Mbeki Municipality (GMM) of sidelining his ward.
He claims the GMM does not render services because his ward is not an ANC stronghold. The Azanian Residents Party took Ward 20 in the 2022 local government elections.
According to Khubheka, even the mayoral cleaning campaign, Ijima Lokuhlwengisa, where all municipal service delivery resources are availed, never reached Ward 20.
“The mayoral cleaning campaign has reached all other wards in eMbalenhle except Ward 20. I am concerned about how the municipality treats my ward.”
Khubheka believes the lack of service delivery is politically motivated. According to him, the GMM does not maintain the roads, the stormwater drainage system or the sewerage network.
“I raised my concern with the municipal manager, Elliot Maseko. He repeatedly made promises, but nothing has happened,” said Khubheka.
As the rainy season is here, Khubheka is worried residents’ houses will again flood, just like last year, because of no maintenance to the streets and stormwater drainage system.
He said the municipality allocated some residents to stands in a wetland. Khubeheka said if the GMM fails to give these residents better residential stands, he has no choice but to reallocate them himself without the municipality’s involvement.
Many Ward 20 residents share their councillor’s opinion of being neglected.
“No other area in eMbalenhle is as neglected as our ward. The waste is not removed. Sewage spills onto all of our roads, leading to us being unable to use them.
“Our mayor, Nhlakanipho Zuma, has not bothered to visit our area since he became mayor. I don’t think he knows Ward 20,” said a concerned resident.
“Even if our ward councillor is from an opposition party, we still deserve to be serviced like residents.”
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Donald Green, GMM’s media liaison and content development officer, said all communities are entitled to receive services, regardless of their location and the wards in which they reside. Green said the municipality is legally obligated to provide services indiscriminately.
“The municipality can admit that service delivery levels are not where we would like them to be, but we are committed to addressing this challenge and ensuring we drive services to all our communities.
“We have stretched our limited resources to ensure we continue to deliver basic services to all. As such, the budget has made significant allocations to areas which are often underdeveloped and have some of our poorest communities.
“The weekly service delivery operations, Ijima Lokuhlwengisa, reaches most wards, and the plan is to maximise efforts continuously to heighten service delivery in all wards,” said Green.
ALSO READ: Residents in eMbalenhle connected their toilets pipes to the storm water drainage
