Tshwane residents at loggerheads with city officials

Residents of Tshwane took the streets of the capital city to voice their concerns over poor service delivery.

The residents marched to Tshwane House, saying their cries, over the years, have fallen on deaf ears.

Among their grievances, is what they deem as fraudulent billing on their metres.

They are decrying the fluctuating amounts they are expected to pay each month for basic services, saying that they cannot even comprehend what it is exactly that they are being asked to pay for.

Young and old Tshwane residents came in numbers to support the march, which commenced at the city’s CBD in Marabastad to the Tshwane Headquarters on Van Der Walt Street.

Some residents, who receive grant, bemoan the amounts they are expected to fork out for basic services.

“The rent in Mamelodi is expensive. We are just pleading with the municipality to just scrape off all this debt they have put us in and let us start afresh. We want to be billed through a flat rate. My husband, who is now deceased, bought me the house I am currently living in. I am not employed; I only receive grant money,” says one resident.

“Our issue is that these municipalities charge us for services we are unaware of. We spend close to three months without our rubbish bins being discarded. As we speak, no municipal workers has come to my community in Soshanguve to record our meter readings. Now they say I owe them R5000 and I only get money from SASSA…I don’t know how I will pay off that debt,” says another community member.

Another resident from Mabopane came emotionally charged at the march, expressing his dissatisfaction with the current government’s work ethic.

“Today’s government lacks the capacity to handle its people’s issues. All they know is to wait for the budget and then share the money amongst themselves. Right now our streets are infested with pot holes and they have never fixed them for us. They just put in signs to alert motorist that the streets have potholes. They are not doing anything for us. They just want to buy nice cars for themselves with our money,” offloads one of the residents.

Inwooners Baagi Civic Movement (IBCM), which is an organisation representing residents across the capital city, also came in support of the march – with the Youth League representatives laying down their call for Tshwane municipal officials to do better.

“What we want is that they should make job creation for our youth, meaning that they should mobilise people to register in becoming meter readers. They should start checking our meters properly and stop estimating readings for us,” said IBCM Youth League President, Karabo Ratladi.

He says not only will most young people be able to make ends meet, but they will also contribute positively to the country’s socio-economic issues.

IBMC Youth League Chairperson, Khutso Lekalakala, echoes similar sentiments, slamming the government’s Nasi’Spani initiative, which he says has barely made any significant difference in tackling youth unemployment in the country.

“We are here as young people to not only support our parents but to also raise our issues as the youth. There’s been initiatives like Nasi’Spani that has been happening that the government made us stand in long ques to apply for jobs but nothing has come to fruition. We have been promised a lot of opportunities and jobs. We are here with our parents to support them because their success is also our success. These houses that the municipality is billing fraudulently and threatening to repossess are our parents’ houses, which are our homes as well,” says Lekalakala.

Other Tshwane residents say they are doubtful that the city will respond to their demands accordingly.

Marang Khomo, who is a resident of Sunvelly, says the city’s Deputy Mayor, Eugene Modise, who was mandated to address the march, says it seeks at least seven days to lock heads with the march leaders.

“The officials responded to our concerns but I’m disappointed because we wanted to speak to the mayor but instead, she sent the deputy mayor. So they have given us a time frame of seven days in which they will sit with our leaders and then they will update us on developments. We don’t know if they will give us what we asked for,” explained Khomo. Written by Odirile Rabolao