FEELINGS ran high at Umuziwabantu Municipality after Communications Minister, Faith Muthambi expressed her concerns about the conditions in which people are living.
She questioned the roles of the ward councillor and the mayor, who accompanied her during the neighbourhood visit at KwaMachi last Saturday.
The minister was dismayed at the level of service delivery given to the communities of Harding by the municipality. This comes after she discovered that most RDP houses have visible cracks and barbed wire holding the bricks together. The minister said this was unacceptable and that people could not be expected to survive under such hideous conditions.
“We have seen the living conditions in the area and, I must say, they are not good,” said the minister.
Bathini Chola, a senior citizen residing in the area with four children and whose house was swept away by floods, complained about the lack of intervention from the municipality. The rondavel in which she lives has windows made from roofing sheets. She has no proper blankets and cooks on the floor. “I have no electricity and no food, even now,” she said. According to the ward committee, the Department of Social Development only brought food parcels once.
The municipality has admitted having service delivery issues. “We are aware of the poor condition of the RDP houses in the KwaMachi area and we are busy engaging with Stedone, the company to which the contract was awarded, about the list of houses which have problems,” said communications officer, Nkosikhona Zwane. According to Ms Zwane the company has since promised to fix the houses.
