More than 40 residents of Tshaba village in Tsholomnqa, tired of waiting for the government to fix their bumpy gravel road, yesterday rolled up their sleeves to fix it themselves.
The community even hired a tractor to haul stones and gravel to fill holes and level uneven parts of the road.
The road is one of many service delivery challenges experienced by the community ahead of the August 3 local government elections.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived at the village yesterday, villagers, braving the windy weather, were working on the road.
Most of the residents were elderly men and women who told the Dispatch the road to their village was in such bad condition that they found it difficult to access services such as ambulances, the police, and taxis.
Community leader Bonisile Dyani told the Dispatch that after a community meeting, residents decided to raise funds and hire a tractor to assist in fixing the road, and to buy food for the people doing the work.
“Taxi drivers flatly refuse to come to our village; they complained about the bad state of our roads.
“The most worrying part is that ambulances arrive here hours late.
“This year two people died because ambulances could not access their homes early enough to save their lives,” he said.
He added that for years they had been asking for assistance from the department of public works and Buffalo City Metro, but in vain.
“We have tried our best to get assistance from the government.
“On 18 February 2014 we wrote to public works.
“After numerous promises we decided to hire a taxi and go picket outside their offices. They then sent their machinery to the village but it never really fixed the road.
“And after a few days we did not see it anymore. We even tried to get hold of MEC Marawu, because we were told by the municipality that this road is under public works.”
No response to questions sent to the department of public works spokesman Mphumzi Zuzile and BCM spokesman Sibusiso Cindi had been received at the time of going to print yesterday.
Another community member, 65-year-old Noluthando Maduluba, said villagers had to walk about 3km to get to the main road for transport.
“I am an elderly woman, but when my community called upon us to fix the road, I heeded the call and came.
“We are still requesting the government to please help us. We’ve been to public works several times, but they keep saying they are budgeting.
“They say we must vote but we do not even have a community hall,” she said.
Elderly fix road leading to village
The community even hired a tractor to haul stones and gravel to fill holes and level uneven parts of the road.
The road is one of many service delivery challenges experienced by the community ahead of the August 3 local government elections.
When the Daily Dispatch arrived at the village yesterday, villagers, braving the windy weather, were working on the road.
Most of the residents were elderly men and women who told the Dispatch the road to their village was in such bad condition that they found it difficult to access services such as ambulances, the police, and taxis.
Community leader Bonisile Dyani told the Dispatch that after a community meeting, residents decided to raise funds and hire a tractor to assist in fixing the road, and to buy food for the people doing the work.
“Taxi drivers flatly refuse to come to our village; they complained about the bad state of our roads.
“The most worrying part is that ambulances arrive here hours late.
“This year two people died because ambulances could not access their homes early enough to save their lives,” he said.
He added that for years they had been asking for assistance from the department of public works and Buffalo City Metro, but in vain.
“We have tried our best to get assistance from the government.
“On 18 February 2014 we wrote to public works.
“After numerous promises we decided to hire a taxi and go picket outside their offices. They then sent their machinery to the village but it never really fixed the road.
“And after a few days we did not see it anymore. We even tried to get hold of MEC Marawu, because we were told by the municipality that this road is under public works.”
No response to questions sent to the department of public works spokesman Mphumzi Zuzile and BCM spokesman Sibusiso Cindi had been received at the time of going to print yesterday.
Another community member, 65-year-old Noluthando Maduluba, said villagers had to walk about 3km to get to the main road for transport.
“I am an elderly woman, but when my community called upon us to fix the road, I heeded the call and came.
“We are still requesting the government to please help us. We’ve been to public works several times, but they keep saying they are budgeting.
“They say we must vote but we do not even have a community hall,” she said.
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