Calls to restore service delivery

THE RECENT protest action in the city has left local residents without municipal services and reports have been received of overflowing sewage, uncollected rubbish piling up and power outages.

Calls were made yesterday for an urgent intervention to restore the delivery of municipal services to residents of the city.

In Gerrit Schouten Avenue in Royldene a blocked municipal drain has flooded the garden of a house and although the residents called the services of private plumbers, they were told that only the municipality could assist.

Landbou Weg is also reported to be engulfed with sewage. The spill has flooded the veld and is affecting a number of businesses, including cattle holding pens on the outskirts of the city.

According to the DA in the Province, an already explosive situation has been aggravated by the municipality’s failure to attend to ad hoc sewerage blockages since the start of protest action that commenced in the city on Thursday last week.

“To date, absolutely no plans exist to deal with this impending sewage crisis,” provincial party leader, Andrew Louw, said yesterday.

He added that there were increased sewage spills across the city, already affecting Greenpoint, Galeshewe, Minerva Gardens, Monument Heights and Royldene.

Risk

“Given the current standstill of municipal services, this is at risk of spilling over into a full-blown crisis if not urgently addressed,” Louw added.

He said the party had been inundated with complaints ranging from large sections of street lights not working to power outages, burst water pipes and rubbish not being collected.

“At this stage, all the DA can do is report these grievances but Sol Plaatje is not delivering any services and they also cannot say when service delivery will resume.

“The DA wonders if residents, who are already up in arms over the unfair electricity tariff increases, will have to foot the bill for water wastage and inaccessible services for as long as the unrest continues.

“We won’t be surprised if this sparks more protest action amongst already disgruntled Kimberley residents.”

Municipal spokesperson, Sello Matsie, said that refuse collection services had not taken place yesterday due to precautionary safety concerns but it was expected that these would return to normal today.

“Our service centres were open as normal yesterday and services like the emergency services, electricity, water and sanitation were providing the necessary services across the city,” said Matsie.