Emfuleni Local Municipality. [Picture: Antonio Muchave]
Conditions in the ANC-run Emfuleni Local Municipality, near Johannesburg, have gone from bad to worse. Municipal staff went unpaid and services were not rendered as Eskom attached its bank accounts.
On Friday, Zainul Saley, resident of Roshnee, spoke of dysfunctional utilities services. Water leaks run for days and it’s a miracle if electricity faults are attended to. The municipality is unreachable by telephone.
“You cannot get through to none (sic) of the numbers that they’ve given. They’re saying that they are busy setting up a call centre. You have to actually drive from Roshnee, which is about a 30-35 minute drive to Vanderbijlpark, to go and put your query in or to go and see somebody,” he said.
Councillor Gerda Senekal, who stated the situation had gone from “bad to worse”, said residents were used to a general lack of service delivery. Despite this, they were expected to pay anyway.
“They have gotten used to what they are being given. They drive by, they see the grass is long. By this they say ‘Oh yeah, it’s Emfuleni. Don’t worry, it’s not going to be cut.’ They are being put in a position that they have to get used to their environment … It’s unfair towards them.”
