Gatvol Oshabeni residents block main road
One community leader, Zitha Zulu said they are not fighting with anyone, but they need their service delivery.
Fed up residents left their warm beds and blocked Old St Faiths Road at Oshabeni Location near Port Shepstone on Tuesday this week, to protest a lack of water and road maintenance.
These residents say they are tired of Ugu District Municipality and the Department of Transport (DoT) officials who promise them supply of quality water and the repair of Old St Faiths Road, but nothing is being done.
They say they have been trying to engage relevant authorities, but nothing is forthcoming, except empty promises. As a result, they brought everything to a standstill and there was no learning and teaching at local schools and no-one was able to go to work.
One community leader, Zitha Zulu said they are not fighting with anyone, but they need their service delivery.
He said: “As a community, we have decided to block the road, but we are doing this peacefully because we want answers in connection with a lot of things, firstly the main road, it has been damaged and in a bad state for quite a long time. We demand answers from the DoT.”
Also, he added the other issue is water “It has been a year-and-a-half and we have had no water. We don’t know, perhaps at Ugu Council they select certain areas where they supply water. If they are failing to supply us with water, they must remove their water pipes.”
On the water supply issue, Ugu mayor Skhumbuzo ‘Zero’ Mqadi said the problem is in Mhlabashana at the water dam, and that a valve which supplies Oshabeni residents has been tampered with.
“We are asking you to let us pass to go to that area where the water has been blocked. We have to go to the people who have welded the valve which is supposed to supply water,” said Mqadi.
After negotiations with residents, he and his team were allowed to go and check at Mhlabashane. When they returned, he said they had managed to talk with the affected people and the outcome was positive and that water will be available in two days.
On the issue of the road, Ray Nkonyeni Municipality council speaker, Phumalani ‘Mapu’ Gumbi engaged with the community and located the relevant officials who later arrived at the scene.
While addressing residents, Scelo Mbotho from DoT said they can start with short-term maintenance by filling up potholes by next week, but fuming residents said the work must be done immediately.
The department was forced to call in a team which was working elsewhere, and started on Tuesday afternoon.
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