Residents from L-Section in Hlalanikahle Extension 1 engaged with Mayor Vusi Nhlapho earlier today, demanding answers to pressing service delivery concerns that have burdened them for years.

Held at the Emalahleni Local Municipality offices, today’s meeting follows a letter of inquiry the residents submitted on August 14, in which they requested clarification on the development budget and project planning in their area.

“We have been silent for far too long, and after handing over the letter to the officials who promised to pass it to the mayor, they never returned to us,” resident of the affected area, Sibusiso Sgudla said, adding that as the community directly affected by these issues, they couldn’t be silent any longer.

However, the mayor apologised that although an official from the municipality received the letter, it never got to his hands.

“The letter was addressed to the mayor, but the MMC’s department only gave it to me now,” he said, adding that even so, he will address their concerns as it is his responsibility to serve them.

The residents’ cries range from issues of land allocation, no water solutions, no toilets, and although some areas that came after them have developed incredibly, they still continue to live in dark spaces without electricity.

“It pains me and questions my position to think why in over 30 years of democracy our people are still being subjected to these living conditions,” Nhlapho said.

However, he promised the residents that he will send a team tomorrow to assess the available lands as raised by the residents in the meeting to find out if it would be safe for them to occupy them.

“Once the issue of land is resolved, we will then be able to look into the other problems of service delivery,” he said.

The residents expressed dissatisfaction with the outcome of the meeting, saying they will start believing once they see actions.

“We are not really happy because, for now, we are still in the dark as we haven’t yet seen improvement. We will wait for them to start putting their words into action, then we will be happy,” Xolani Mabaso, one of the concerned residents said.

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