VEREENIGING – Peacehaven residents have escalated their complaint about the lack of service delivery from ELM to the Public Protector. Residents detailed their frustration with the local municipality through a petition which has garnered about 300 signatures.
The community said they were sending the petition in the hopes of receiving intervention due to serious lack of services from ELM.
In South Africa, residents can approach the Public Protector to report complaints about improper or prejudiced conduct in state affairs or public administration. The Public Protector will investigate and potentially take remedial action.
Some of the issues highlighted in the petition include inconsistent waste collection, water leaks & water outages, poor road, and lack of street lighting. Community representative Nthabeleng Malise said they would also be seeking for intervention from the Gauteng Provincial Legislature. Malise said the high number of signatures on the petition highlights the mounting frustration residents are faced with.
“We will continue to make a noise until something gets done about our situation.”
Speaking to Ster North previously, Ward 15 Councillor Prudence Hlanyane said that service delivery in Peacehaven is extremely poor.
“I have personally reported some of the issues to the municipality. These include Water leaks, some for more than two years, sewer spillages affecting Golf Road, Jansen, and some parts of General Hertzog, and waste collection.”
ELM’s Media Relations Officer said while the municipality is aware about some of the challenges, it is important that residents consistently pay for the services.
“The Vereeniging area has a challenge of aged water and sanitation infrastructure. On the sewer front, Vereeniging has widespread challenges of blockages. teams have tried the high-pressure method to unblock the lines and met with success in some and failures in most.”
Radebe said for Peacehaven to be fully serviced, the municipality requires 2 compactor trucks a week.
“Peacehaven is also included in the 90-day maintenance program for the cleaning of illegal dumping hotspots.”
Radebe reiterated that payment for services is necessary for the change the community of Peacehaven seeks.
