By SIMTHANDILE FORD
Five years ago, Ayanda Spendu took part in her first service delivery protest. She wanted to help change Mqanduli for the better. However, little has changed.
Residents say the only sign of “service delivery” is a line of unconnected electricity poles erected throughout Kwenxurha village, home to about 300 families.
Spendu said a company arrived in 2013 and installed the poles, which are now “play stations for the birds”.
“For the past three years there has been a company installing poles, and it has left some households with electricity meter boxes but to this day, no electricity.”
Sick of King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) municipality turning a blind eye to their plight, they took to the streets again in March.
Spendu and 15 other residents have now been charged with public violence after they burnt tyres, blocking vehicles travelling past the town. They barricaded the Mqanduli main road, which links motorists to Xhora, Mthatha and Zitulele Hospital in Coffee Bay for two days. The protesters were arrested, charged with public violence and released on warning.
Spendu, who is in her late 20s, said the issues driving the protest were not new. “It’s just that the municipality does not see the urgency in our plight.”
The Daily Dispatch reported in July 2012, a year after the first service delivery protests in Mqanduli, that thousands of villagers in the OR Tambo district municipality still had no running water and many communities still drank from murky streams.
This was despite a R600-million grant from National Treasury to develop its infrastructure.
The rural district consists of five local municipalities including KSD, Nyandeni, Mhlontlo, Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns.
The same year that OR Tambo received the funding, KSD – Mqanduli’s municipality – returned an unspent R560-million Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) to Treasury.
The Daily Dispatch visited Mqanduli recently and found most of its six villages without electricity or piped water, despite the water pipes scattered about.
Residents said the construction company suddenly stopped work and left two-and-a-half years ago. No one ever told them why.
In addition to service delivery troubles, residents are also battling to make ends meet due to the high levels of unemployment.
Kwenxurha resident Nokhaya Bangani, 42, said the villagers had lost hope of ever having electricity. “All we see are different people wearing overalls coming in and out of the village, all promising electricity.
“Year in and year out, we get promises, but it’s just to pull us to the polls and get our votes.”
In March, after the protest, the Dispatch quoted residents threatening to stay away from the voting booths come August 3.
But this week residents said they would vote but they were fielding “a different candidate”.
“We are going to vote, just to make sure that what happened to us in the past five years is not repeated. If we do not vote, this ward will again go to the same people,” said Spendu.
OR Tambo district spokesman Ayongezwa Lungisa said it was OR Tambo’s job to provide water. “Matters of electricity are handled by local authorities, Eskom and the Department of Energy.”
KSD could not be reached for comment at time of writing. — simthandilef@dispatch.co.za
Disillusioned villagers field own candidate
Five years ago, Ayanda Spendu took part in her first service delivery protest. She wanted to help change Mqanduli for the better. However, little has changed.
Residents say the only sign of “service delivery” is a line of unconnected electricity poles erected throughout Kwenxurha village, home to about 300 families.
Spendu said a company arrived in 2013 and installed the poles, which are now “play stations for the birds”.
“For the past three years there has been a company installing poles, and it has left some households with electricity meter boxes but to this day, no electricity.”
Sick of King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) municipality turning a blind eye to their plight, they took to the streets again in March.
Spendu and 15 other residents have now been charged with public violence after they burnt tyres, blocking vehicles travelling past the town. They barricaded the Mqanduli main road, which links motorists to Xhora, Mthatha and Zitulele Hospital in Coffee Bay for two days. The protesters were arrested, charged with public violence and released on warning.
Spendu, who is in her late 20s, said the issues driving the protest were not new. “It’s just that the municipality does not see the urgency in our plight.”
The Daily Dispatch reported in July 2012, a year after the first service delivery protests in Mqanduli, that thousands of villagers in the OR Tambo district municipality still had no running water and many communities still drank from murky streams.
This was despite a R600-million grant from National Treasury to develop its infrastructure.
The rural district consists of five local municipalities including KSD, Nyandeni, Mhlontlo, Ingquza Hill and Port St Johns.
The same year that OR Tambo received the funding, KSD – Mqanduli’s municipality – returned an unspent R560-million Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) to Treasury.
The Daily Dispatch visited Mqanduli recently and found most of its six villages without electricity or piped water, despite the water pipes scattered about.
Residents said the construction company suddenly stopped work and left two-and-a-half years ago. No one ever told them why.
In addition to service delivery troubles, residents are also battling to make ends meet due to the high levels of unemployment.
Kwenxurha resident Nokhaya Bangani, 42, said the villagers had lost hope of ever having electricity. “All we see are different people wearing overalls coming in and out of the village, all promising electricity.
“Year in and year out, we get promises, but it’s just to pull us to the polls and get our votes.”
In March, after the protest, the Dispatch quoted residents threatening to stay away from the voting booths come August 3.
But this week residents said they would vote but they were fielding “a different candidate”.
“We are going to vote, just to make sure that what happened to us in the past five years is not repeated. If we do not vote, this ward will again go to the same people,” said Spendu.
OR Tambo district spokesman Ayongezwa Lungisa said it was OR Tambo’s job to provide water. “Matters of electricity are handled by local authorities, Eskom and the Department of Energy.”
KSD could not be reached for comment at time of writing. — simthandilef@dispatch.co.za
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