Protests and threats to boycott local government elections have sent two apologetic mayors scrambling to make amends for service delivery backlogs in the Eastern Cape’s rural hinterland.
Villagers in the deeply rural Mahlungulu administrative area, which falls under the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) local municipality’s Ward 22, chased officials from the Independent Electoral Commission during the recent voter registration weekend over unfulfilled electricity, water and housing promises.
KSD mayor Nonkoliso Ngqongwa initially met with the disgruntled villagers last week and then convened a larger meeting which was also attended by O R Tambo mayor Nomakhosazana Meth and representatives from government departments.
Winisile Ngcebetha, an elderly resident in Mahlungulu told both mayors that villagers had resolved not to cast their votes in the upcoming elections until they were given satisfactory answers on the lack of service delivery.
“We were promised 350 RDP houses in 2013,”said Ngcebetha. “We jumped for joy but, instead, those houses were built in another village. We were left angry and distraught.”
He said the village also had no electricity while neighbouring villagers were able to flick electricity switches in their homes to cook food.
“And we are collecting firewood.”
The village still had no water and residents also want a network mast for their cellphones.
Ngqongwa said that in a previous meeting, the villagers had suggested the installation of solar panels as a stop-gap measure to address the lack of electricity.
She told them the electrification of their homes would begin around April 2017 as per Eskom’s programme, much to the dismay of the villagers who started booing her.
“We can’t buy faces and promise that tomorrow the programme will start and then there is no project,” she said, adding that KSD had already written about the possibility of putting up solar power in the meantime.
She said the housing project dubbed “Mahlungulu 350” had stalled after the area’s ward councillor Ngaveli Maroloma had asked for some of the houses to be given to another contractor, with whom residents were comfortable. But the man had vanished after signing a contract with the municipality.
Meth apologised and ensured that 18 water tanks were distributed to the villagers. A water truck from O R Tambo was also seen arriving in the area to fill up the new water tanks.
However she told villagers that it was a costly exercise and they should harvest rain water. She also pleaded with villagers to rethink their stance on voting.
The Dispatch reported four years ago that only one village in Mahlungulu had been electrified in the area since 2008. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
Mayors say sorry after protests and threat to snub poll
Villagers in the deeply rural Mahlungulu administrative area, which falls under the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) local municipality’s Ward 22, chased officials from the Independent Electoral Commission during the recent voter registration weekend over unfulfilled electricity, water and housing promises.
KSD mayor Nonkoliso Ngqongwa initially met with the disgruntled villagers last week and then convened a larger meeting which was also attended by O R Tambo mayor Nomakhosazana Meth and representatives from government departments.
Winisile Ngcebetha, an elderly resident in Mahlungulu told both mayors that villagers had resolved not to cast their votes in the upcoming elections until they were given satisfactory answers on the lack of service delivery.
“We were promised 350 RDP houses in 2013,”said Ngcebetha. “We jumped for joy but, instead, those houses were built in another village. We were left angry and distraught.”
He said the village also had no electricity while neighbouring villagers were able to flick electricity switches in their homes to cook food.
“And we are collecting firewood.”
The village still had no water and residents also want a network mast for their cellphones.
Ngqongwa said that in a previous meeting, the villagers had suggested the installation of solar panels as a stop-gap measure to address the lack of electricity.
She told them the electrification of their homes would begin around April 2017 as per Eskom’s programme, much to the dismay of the villagers who started booing her.
“We can’t buy faces and promise that tomorrow the programme will start and then there is no project,” she said, adding that KSD had already written about the possibility of putting up solar power in the meantime.
She said the housing project dubbed “Mahlungulu 350” had stalled after the area’s ward councillor Ngaveli Maroloma had asked for some of the houses to be given to another contractor, with whom residents were comfortable. But the man had vanished after signing a contract with the municipality.
Meth apologised and ensured that 18 water tanks were distributed to the villagers. A water truck from O R Tambo was also seen arriving in the area to fill up the new water tanks.
However she told villagers that it was a costly exercise and they should harvest rain water. She also pleaded with villagers to rethink their stance on voting.
The Dispatch reported four years ago that only one village in Mahlungulu had been electrified in the area since 2008. — sikhon@dispatch.co.za
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